


Name

by MayaThisIsMadness



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - High School, Cuban Lance (Voltron), I'll update the tags if need be, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, it will be fluffy, nonbinary pidge, there is angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-09-29 22:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10146503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayaThisIsMadness/pseuds/MayaThisIsMadness
Summary: Lance didn't really think he'd ever see motorcycle boy again.  Keith didn't think flower shop boy would remember him.  Neither thought their lives could shift so dramatically.





	1. Google Search: Which flower means ‘wow you’re cute will you date me?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “ _And even though the moment passed me by,_  
>  _I still can't turn away._ ”  
> - _Goo Goo Dolls, “Name”_

The street sounds filled the air of the flower shop as Lance waited for the owner to return from the back. He shifted his weight and looked down at the flowers in his hand, the scent gently wafting up and filling him with the smell of lilies. It had been a hectic day for everyone but him, which was probably why he had been sent for the flowers. He knew these were his grandma's favourite flowers though, and anything to bring some light to her was worth the trip. 

He inspected the color of each flower, making sure each spec met his standards, when suddenly, the bell to the shop rang and the door flew open, slamming into a display table. 

Lance jerked at the sound and saw a short pale boy with messy black hair jumping back from the crash.

“Shit,” he muttered before frantically looking around the shop, eyes eventually landing on Lance.

“Uh,” Lance started.

“Nothing broke,” the boy looked back at the table, “It’s good.”

“Okay,” Lance said, not really sure what else to do.

Lance watched as the boy straightened the table then started looking around with an expression somewhere between complete confusion and disgust. He strolled between tables lifting petals on flowers and inspecting them like they had just sprouted legs and kicked him in the face. 

Lance looked toward the back, wondering what was taking so long before looking back at the boy. He bit his lip, maybe he should help the guy. He looked rushed, but also very very lost. 

The boy let out a frustrated huff and Lance took pity on him.

“You don't know what you're doing, do you?” he asked, the boy looked up startled at the sound of Lance's voice.

“Uh, no,” he said, clearing his throat and looking up at him, “I have no idea about any of this.”

Lance smirked and gave the guy a once over. He wore dark jeans tucked into a pair of well-worn combat boots. His hands dangled at his sides awkwardly in a pair of fingerless gloves. His tight fitting t-shirt beneath his jacket accented his surprisingly toned body. Lance quirked an eyebrow. This guy was, like, really hot. His hair looked kind of messy, but wait. Was that a mullet? 

Lance decided this was probably his first time in a flower shop. Like ever.

“So,” he said, setting his flowers down to walk over and lean against the table, “What did you have in mind.”

“What did I- Oh! The flowers, right. Well, I don't know. Something nice?”

“Nice flowers,” Lance nodded before giving him what he thought was his most charming smile, “Got it.”

The guy stared at him with about the same level of confusion he had looked at the flowers with. Lance shifted awkwardly under the scrutiny and turned back to the display.

“What's the occasion?” He asked, biting his lip before adding, “Like a date or-”

“No, I don't have- not anything like that,” the guy quirked his lips up at one corner into an almost-smile, “They’re, uh, actually for my brother's girlfriend's parents.”

“Wait what?”

The guy gave a small chuckle at Lance's reaction and it did _things_ to his insides.

“My brother called me last minute and he's apparently meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time and didn't know. He's seeing them in half an hour and begged me to get him these.”

“Wow, that's nice of you,” Lance said. He hadn't really expected this guy to be the considerate type. He smiled even bigger.

“Oh, I'm definitely gonna hold it over his head for a while, but he'd do it for me,” he shrugged.

Lance stared at the guy a little longer contemplatively, though his attention was quickly swept up in the way his hair fell on his cheek bones.

“So the flowers,” the boy quirked an eyebrow with a smirk.

“Right,” Lance said, a blush creeping on his face. Damn it, couldn't he just be cool for once?

“Uh, well _these_ are nice for weddings and stuff, so that could work, but maybe _these_ ,” he lead Keith to another table, “We usually get them for birthdays or graduations but they smell pretty nice and would probably work for meeting parents too.”

The guy looked at him with a hint of surprise and scanned him up and down before asking, “Do you work here?”

Lance huffed, “No. In my family, flowers are kind of a big thing. We have lots of events so I'm basically here at least three times a month. Coran and I, the owner here, are even on a first name basis.”

The guy nodded before picking up the graduation flowers, frowning down at them before lifting them to his nose. Lance watched as he leaned into one of the blooms and inhaled deeply, pulling his face together.

“I don't smell anything.”

Lance's jaw dropped, “What?” 

He took them out of the guys hands and smelled them aggressively.

“What do you mean? These are the strongest smelling ones I've ever-” he broke himself off with a barked laugh. 

The shorter guy shifted away and replied defensively, “What?”

“Sorry, you just-” he ran his fingers awkwardly through his hair as he tried to keep his smile at bay, “-got some pollen right-” he rubbed his finger over his nose.

“Oh,” the guy rubbed at his nose, his face began turning a deep shade of red that was just utterly adorable.

“Don't worry,” he said, leaning forward a bit so he could lower his voice, “It was kind of-”

 _Cute_ , he thought bitterly as he heard a familiar voice interrupt.

“Sorry for the hold up,” called Coran as he carried a basket to the counter.

Lance jumped away from the guy pushing the flowers into his hands, “Uh, that's okay I was just-”

Coran noticed Keith, still red, and rolled his eyes, “Don't frighten away my customers. I've told you if you are going to hang around my shop the least you can do is not flirt with every-”

“ _Coran!_ ”

“No, it's fine,” the boy broke in, “He was helping me pick out some flowers and was actually really helpful.”

Lance turned to smile at this increasingly appealing boy and mouthed a big _thank you_.

“If you say so,” Coran finished setting up Lance's basket, adjusting the flowers into a nice bunch, “Do you have money for me this time or do you want me to put it on the family tab?”

“Tab please,” he said as he stepped up to the counter and pulled the basket aside to adjust the organization. 

Coran frowned at him before looking back at the boy across the shop who had watched the encounter.

“Do you need anymore help?”

“No, I think I'm just gonna get these. I'm kind of in a rush so...”

“Of course.”

Coran began ringing up the order and the boy looked at Lance's basket and frowned, “So who are those for?”

“My abuela,” he said, smile slipping, “She's been in the hospital so my mom thought I should bring her some.”

“Oh, sorry. I hope she gets better.”

Lance nodded solemnly but he smiled back up at the guys, a little forced this time, “She will. Especially with these bad boys.”

The guy smiled a bit back then noticed the clock over Lance's shoulder and his eyes widened. 

He passed over a ten to Coran and grabbed the flowers, “Keep the change I- I really have to go, crap. Shiro's gonna kill me.”

He turned and practically ran out the door.

Before Lance knew what he was doing, he grabbed his basket and was charging out the door after him, “Wait!”

Outside the shop, the guy was already stuffing the flowers into the back compartment of a motorcycle. Lance stopped in his tracks then shook his head. Of course this boy would have a motorcycle.

Motorcycle boy put on his helmet and said, “Yeah?”

“Uh,” Lance said intelligently, “Just wanted to say good luck, I guess. For your brother, I mean.”

Motorcycle boy sat on his bike, started it, and revved the engine.

“You too!” He yelled back and waved one gloved hand.

Lance waved back though he knew he couldn't see it. He smiled after him as he shook his head to himself and turned toward his old truck.

He should have gotten that boys number. Damn.

 

Keith smiled to himself as he raced back to his apartment building. The wind brushed through the hair that stuck out of the bottom of his helmet. Wind snapped through his jacket behind him.

He couldn't get flower boy out of his head. Those bright eyes, dark skin, beaming smile. The way he had started leaning forward before the owner interrupted. He wondered what the guy had been about to say as he played out the interaction over and over in his head.

He flew up in front of his apartment building. The brakes whined and his body pulled forward at the sudden stop. His mom hated when he did that, but he never drove slow enough to not have an abrupt stop.

He chained up his bike, exchanged his helmet for flowers, then practically crashed through the door and stormed up the flight of stairs to his apartment floor. On the way to his place, he banged on his neighbor's door before halting to a stop. Shiro threw open the door just as Keith went for the handle.

“Great,” he said, smiling, “I was just about to leave without them. You're a lifesaver, little bro.”

He rubbed his hands playfully in Keith's hair before speed walking down the hall.

Suddenly, the neighbors door swung open.

“Hey, asshole, can you try knocking a little nicer. I’m not your- woah, Shiro. What's the occasion?”

“Allura. Parents. Gotta go. Talk to you later, Pidgey!”

“I told you to quit calling me that,” they yelled after Shiro as he practically fell down the stairs, “Oh, whatever. What do you want?”

“Great to see you too,” Keith said, pushing past a bitter Pidge, “I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. Oh, sure I’ll come in for a few minutes,”

“Alright then.”

Keith plopped down on the couch and reached for the remote to the XBox.

He quirked an eyebrow, “Shall we play a game.”

Pidge rolled their eyes, “I'd grumble about you overusing that line if I weren't so thrilled you are finally making pop culture references.”

“I'll take that as a yes.”

“Okay, spill,” Pidge said, “What's got you in such a good mood.”

“Who says I'm in a good mood?”

“You're face and obnoxiously energetic attitude.”

Keith scoffed, “Rude.”

Pidge squinted, “No, seriously, come on. Spit it up.”

“Did you know flowers have like different meanings and stuff. Like there's types of flowers for different events?”

“It was a boy, wasn't it? Did he slightly smile at you? Look at you once?”

“Better.”

“Looked at you twice?”

“Shut up,” Keith kicked his feet up on the coffee table as he logged into his account and logged Pidge into theirs.

“But it was a boy, right?”

Keith didn't respond.

“And he talked to you.”

Keith didn't respond a little louder.

“Did you get his number?”

Keith’s mouth tilted down.

“Damn it, Keith.”

“Well, I was in a hurry!” He said defensively.

“You chickened out and you know it.”

“He was cute, but definitely wouldn't be into me.”

Pidge rolled their eyes, “but he talked to you?”

Keith smiled a little despite himself, “And ran after me when I left.”

“Oh my god! Did you at least get his name so we can track him down?”

Keith dropped his smile again.

“Keith!”

“Sorry!” He whined, “I forgot to ask. Besides, he wouldn't have been into me like that. But still, those eyes.”

Pidge rolled theirs.

“He had the best smile too, like, he put the fucking sun to shame.”

“Okay, gross. It was more fun when you weren't saying anything.”

“That chiseled chin. Nice. And he was taller than me.”

“Everyone is taller than you,” Pidge scoffed.

“Okay, shut up. You're like two feet tall.”

“Touché,” Pidge replied before plopping on the couch next to him.

“His laugh too. The way his eyes had squinched up-”

“Ugh,” pidge wrinkled their nose, “If I race with you will you stop talking about this guy?”

Keith smiled, “Yeah, I'm mostly joking anyway. He was cute but I'll probably never see him again”

They sat in silence as the game loaded.

“I call first pick on the car, by the way.”

Pidge groaned, “Fine, but only this once because I beat you last time and you deserve a fighting chance.”

“Oh, little Pidgeot,” he said, voice tinged in a patronizing lilt of pity, “You only beat me because it was your birthday. You know I wouldn't have let you win otherwise.”

“Ex-fucking-cuse me? Let me win, my ass! You were practically screaming I was beating you so hard!”

“Oh yeah?” he challenged.

“Pick your damn car and get ready to cry hard when you realize I can obliterate you even if you have a Bugatti and I have a minivan.”

“You talk big for a kid your size.”

“You're only hitting so low because you know I'm right,” Pidge retorted.

“Not today. I'm high on cute-boy-fueled adrenaline and you better believe I'll use that against you.”

“Bring it.”

One game turned into ten turned into fifteen and after that Keith lost track, then suddenly it was almost nine and he hadn't started any of his homework yet. 

“I've gotta go,” said Keith finally.

“Can't take the heat?” Pidge pushed.

Keith rolled his eyes, “Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Pidge’s tone shifted from playful to concerned in less than an instant, “Wait, is your mom home yet?” 

Keith stiffened but then made himself relaxed, “She should be.”

Keith stood up and threw his remote on the couch, “And I've got to feed Charlie, so.”

“Right.”

“Okay, see you later,” he said as he made his way to the door.

“Call,” Pidge said, “if you need anything. You know I'm up.”

“Yeah. I know. Thanks.”

He stepped out the door and closed it behind him. He wondered if things would ever be exactly the same as before with Pidge, or anyone for that matter. But he couldn't really blame anyone for their concern.

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed as he made his way down the hall, digging his hands in his pockets for his keys.

A thump sounded from somewhere in the apartment immediately as he swung open the door. He looked at the coat rack and his mom apparently wasn't home yet, but he knew who was.

“Hey, Charlie.”

He shrugged off his jacket and threw it on a hook before melting down to stroke a hand down the back of the cat that slowly made its way to the door.

The kitty purred as it rubbed against his knee.

“I know, I missed you too.”

He scratched a finger under Charlie's chin before standing up.

“Want some food?”

Charlie followed him into the kitchen and he fixed the packaged food and refilled the water before setting it down and leaving the cat to it.

He went to his bedroom and busied himself with homework, only occasionally letting his mind wander back to flower shop boy.

He was nearly finished when he heard the lock on the front door jiggle. He glanced at the clock and it was ten til eleven.

“Keith?”

He sighed and closed his book, making his way out of his room and down the hall, “Hey mom.”

She smiled at him but he could tell she was tired, “You're still up.”

“You're home late.”

“I took over Charlotte's shift.”

“I had homework and I was at Pidge's until nine.”

She nodded and shrugged off her coat and dropped it and her purse on the ground. Keith bit his lip as he looked at it laying there. She kicked off her shoes and went to the kitchen.

“So how was school today?”

“Fine. Fine. Shiro dropped by too. Didn't talk to him much though.”

He collected her shoes and put them in the cubby and placed her purse on top. He leaned down again to hang up her coat, flattening it so the wrinkles wouldn't set in.

“Oh, how is he?”

“Stressed. He's meeting Allura’s parents, or well, met them I guess.”

“I bet it went great. He's always been good at first impressions.”

Keith watched as she pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge and got a glass down.

He couldn't think of what to respond so he just stood there as she poured herself a drink. She left the cabinet open and walked to the living room, shuffling in her socks before plopping down.

Keith bit his lip as he made his way to close it then headed back to his room.

“Hey,” his mom said, “Where are you going? Why don't you come sit with me? Talk and stuff.”

“I've really got to finish my homework.”

“Keith,” she said, her smile faded and he could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

Reluctantly, he made his way to the couch and sat down at the edge of it, watching as she leaned back and sighed.

“I'm sorry I've been getting back so late lately.”

“It's really okay,” Keith shrugged, “I know we need the money and-”

“It's not okay, Keith. I need to be here for you. Now that Shiro’s gone… I'm worried leaving you here.”

He shifted in his seat.

“I know you skipped your appointment today.”

“You weren't even here.”

“Pidge told me you were at theirs all afternoon and-”

“So you guys are talking about me behind my back?”

“We're still worried, Keith. You can't keep skipping these-”

“They don't help! It just makes me feel worse!”

“Keith, we talked about this. We can't afford to pay for these appointments if you're not going to go-”

“Then cancel them!” he said louder, standing up.

“No, Keith. You need help. Let us help you.”

He sighed, “Look, I'm sorry about this. Okay? But just cancel the appointments. There's nothing to even talk about. It's just me that needs to stop being so over dramatic!”

“Please stop yelling, Keith. I just wanted to talk.”

“And I'm sick of talking. So just, cancel them, okay? I'll keep taking the pills if it makes you feel better, but I don't need therapy. And stop texting Pidge behind my back! That's just weird!”

She sighed and put her glass on the table and put a hand on her forehead.

“I just want you to be okay. I love you.”

“I know, mom. Just, I need a break from all the attention.”

“Before I started paying attention you were-”

“It's not gonna be like that, okay? I'm going to finish my homework. I'll see you in the morning.”

She didn't look up at him, but mumbled, “Night, Keith.”

He didn't say anything as he went back to his room. All the happy jitters from earlier were gone.

 

“Hunk, I just don't think you understand. This boy- he did things to me.”

Hunk sighed, “I understand that you say that about any attractive person who looks your direction.”

Lance rolled over from his back to his belly, resting his head on his arms.

“This was different. Not only was he, like, hella hot and had a motorcycle, but he went to a flower shop to help his brother out last minute-”

“I know, you've told me like three times.”

“- _and_ he had a mullet and somehow actually pulled it off.”

Hunk sighed and swiveled around to face Lance from where he sat studiously at the desk in Lance's room trying to prepare for their Calc test.

“Dude, you've got to get over this guy. You're never gonna see him again.”

Lance sighed. He’d been brooding all night about his misfortune.

“I know,” Lance sighed, “but _Hunk,_ I'm gonna die if I don't see this boy again.”

“Right, like you died that time that girl Nyma gave you a fake number?”

“Obviously that was different,” Lance jutted out his bottom lip.

“Sure.”

“I'm serious! She was never going to happen and I knew that, but this guy…” Lance scrunched up his nose.

“Yeah?” Hunk said, smiling at Lance's hesitation.

“Shut up.”

“Look man, I'm just saying that you've got to stop obsessing over all these relationships that aren't going to happen.”

“I know,” Lance moaned as he buried his face in the bed.

Hunk swiveled back around and got back to highlighting his study guide, making notes every once in awhile.

“But Hunk, his eyes, you should have seen-”

“Lance!”

“Ugh!”

 

He started to pack up after another hour of Hunk working and Lance trying desperately to distract him to talk about motorcycle boy. Lance walked him to the door, trying to rush and they almost got out before-

“ _Hunk!_ Wait don't leave! I have to show you what I made at school!”

“Hunk! Hunk! Hunk!”

“Ay, what are you kids yelling about- Hunk, hun, I didn't know you were here? How's my better son?”

“ _Mama,_ ” Lance whined as his entire family bombarded Hunk, who laughed welcomingly.

“Hola, Hunk. What's up, my man?” his older brother said, tiredly stalking out of his room at the noise.

“Sorry, everyone, but Hunks gotta go,” Lance said, ushering them toward the door.

“Silencio, hijo. Hunk, do you want to stay for dinner? I'm making chicken and rice, you're favorite.”

“That's nice mom, but he's got to go-”

“Where are you manners, young man?” she said, swatting at his arm.

“Yeah, Lance,” Hunk turned to him smiling evilly, “Where are your manners? Thank you Sra Sanchez, I'd love to stay for dinner. I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind.”

“Yay! Hunk’s staying!”

“Hunk, Hunk, look see?” said his younger sister, shoving a drawing as high as she could reach, “I made it!”

Lance leaned over Hunk’s shoulder curiously.

“Noooo! Don't let Lance see!”

Suddenly a little girl was jumping on his back and he was falling and Hunk bursted out laughing. As he and Hunk were swept up into the demands of his siblings, thoughts of motorcycle boy settled somewhere near the back of his mind, but didn't disappear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is characterization, haha. I'm trying I swear


	2. Google Search: What is the difference between a sprained and a broken ankle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who had paid attention to the title/lyrics thing. I ditched that idea, but the song is still relevant to this fic, I feel. So I mean I still quoted it in the notes of the first chapter and you should totally listen to it but I'm doing this chapter name thing instead.

Keith dropped his backpack on the cafeteria floor, sliding into the seat across from Pidge, who was typing ferociously on their laptop.

It had been a few days since the flower shop and Keith had already pretty much forgotten about the beautiful boy. He hadn't done much but homework and staying up late to watch documentaries, meaning he hadn't talked to Pidge since then either. He told his mom that no, he was not holding a grudge against them for ratting him out about therapy, he just hadn't been feeling talkative much after that night. 

But now that he had started feeling better, he knew what he had to do.

“Hey, Pidge, Shiro's coming home next weekend, do you want to come over for dinner and stuff?” 

Pidge didn't stop from typing nor did they make a noise to confirm hearing him.

“I beat your high score on Ghost Hop last night.”

Nothing.

“Yesterday I was watching old Bill Nye videos on YouTube and started writing Nye slash reader smut.”

They wrinkled their nose but didn't look up.

“I heard in the news that a Florida Man fucked a gator then streaked naked down the streets screaming 'mmm, bite me daddy. so scaley’.”

Pidge didn't pick up her typing fingers but looked over the screen to give him a quick death stare.

“I wasn't gonna tell you this, but I was abducted by aliens the other day and during the probing I-”

“Okay enough!” Pidge slammed her laptop shut, “What do you want? I'm listening?”

“How are you, Pidge?

“How _'am’_ I?”

Keith smirked victoriously.

“Look, Keith. Not talking to me for a couple days is one thing, but ignoring my texts and calls is another.”

Keith's face fell, “I know. I was busy…”

“With what? You have just as much homework as me, I know you still have enough time to check your god damned phone.”

“I'm sorry, Pidge.”

“What?” they said, “I didn't catch-”

“I said I'm sorry, Jesus. What more do you want?”

Pidge rolled their eyes, “You are forgiven of your sins, for now. And yes, I'll come over next weekend for Shiro.”

“Cool.”

Keith poked at the food on his tray, not planning on eating it but also not too thrilled about the idea of throwing it away uneaten. He used his fork to move the food around, uneasily aware of Pidge watching the action.

“Did you read for astro yet?” Pidge asked after a long uncomfortable silence.

“Yeah, which part?” He asked, knowing that there was some concept they were dying to discuss that he only sort of understood.

“Okay, so you remember the part where it said…” and they were off. Their hands flew around them as they started talking about the orbital paths of solar systems and something about gravity and relativity and at some point, Keith couldn't keep up anymore so he just let them talk. 

It was comfortable again, like how they used to be. He would listen quietly, try to pick up enough to ask guiding questions and let Pidge do the rest. His eyes slowly drifted away from their dramatic gestures, he wasn't trying to tune them out but something over their shoulder caught his eyes and-

His jaw dropped and he ducked down.

“Pidge,” he hissed at Pidge, who still hadn't notice his change in posture and expression.

“What- are you even listening?”

“Pidge, that's him. Oh my god.”

“What? That's who?” they said, leaning forward.

“ _Him,_ ” he said, “Flower shop boy.”

“What?” they shrieked, turning around.

“Shh,” he hissed, “Don't look!”

“Oh no,” they said flatly, eyes settling on the Latino boy across the cafeteria.

“What?” he replied as Pidge turned around to give a look.

“Are you talking about the lanky boy who just waltz in next to the big guy?”

Keith narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

Pidge sighed, “Damn it, Keith. You can't have a crush on him!”

“Shh!”

“That guy is- no.”

“First, I don't have a crush,” Keith started, “I have just acknowledged how attractive he is. And second, why? Who is he?”

“Lance McClain Sanchez and the guy next to him is called Hunk, I think. Those guys are in my calc class and he is probably the biggest flirt of our grade!”

Keith kept watching him as he put his tray down at a crowded table.

“Listen, I'm serious. He’s flirted with everyone in our class! Everyone! You cannot have a crush on that philanderer!”

“Good thing I don't, then.”

They half raised their eyebrows and quirked their mouth into a face that practically screamed _‘bitch, I'm done with your shit’_.

Keith looked again over their shoulder at this apparent chronic flirt. He really hadn't expected to ever see flower shop b- _Lance_ again, and, though he definitely didn't have a crush on him, he still couldn't tear his eyes away.

 

Lance started offering to run the flower errands for the family.

In his defense, he thought it was pretty fun anyway. Talking to Coran was fun from time to time. He loved seeing what new flowers were in season and poking around the arrangements. But he couldn't help but hope that there would be some other flower emergency and motorcycle boy would come back. 

Of course, after a week or two, he realized that was probably not going to happen. So instead, he started spending time at the library across the street. He figured if he hung around this area enough, he was bound to run into the guy again. Plus, all the time he spent there was doing wonders for his Physics grade.

He sat at one of the tables late one evening. He figured he'd stay until closing that day. Not because he really believed if he stayed long enough, motorcycle guy would show up, but because he downed a can of monster and was trying to use up his attention to hyper focus for his test the next day.

“ _Lance?_ ” Someone whispered incredulously.

Lance looked up and stopped bouncing his leg. Hunk stared back at him, mouth hanging open.

“What are you doing here? At the library? At like nine?”

He pulled back, a little offended by the complete bewilderment in his voice.

“I study too, you know!”

“Since when? You literally winged an entire speech in economics just last week!”

“That was economics. Who would study for that?”

Lance looked down at his papers again, trying to hold out as Hunk continued to stare at him, eyes heavy with suspicion. There was movement in the corner of his eye and his attention flicked out the window, consequently toward the shop.

“Wait.”

Oh no.

“This is about that guy isn't it? The one from the flower shop across the street.”

“What?” Lance drew, “I have no clue what you're talking about!”

“It _is_. Oh my gosh, Lance. You can't be serious. That was like two weeks ago! You gotta get over it!”

Lance blushed furiously, “It's not ridiculous. It's charming. I'm charming!”

“No! This is silly.”

“Well, what are you doing here then?”

“The physics test tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Lance said, pushing his book at Hunk, “Me too. See?”

Hunk shook his head.

“Dude.”

Lance sighed, “Fine. I know. But I'll run into him somewhere, just you wait.”

 

The alarm clock sounded and Keith groaned, rolling off the bed. He stretched, pulled on his workout clothes and headed out the door. 

What he loved about running at five in the morning was that there were next to no people out. The gym wasn't even open until six, but the guys that get there early to set up were friends with Shiro, and being the charismatic guys little brother had its perks sometimes.

Once he was there, he got right to it. This was his favorite part of the day. He didn't just love the endorphins, but the pain that came along with the exertion. He would push and push until his muscles burned and then push a bit harder. He never stopped until he was literally gasping for air. The whole thing just gave him a sense of purpose, even though he wasn’t really training for anything.

That day he felt particularly engaged and hadn't noticed when his alarms went off until ten minutes too late. He rushed to the gym shower and took one as quickly as he could, scrubbing vigorously at his skin to remove the thick coat of sweat. 

He grabbed his school stuff and sprinted down the stairs, which he wasn't too happy about since he hated sweating after he just showered.

He eased into a more comfortable jog toward school, his backpack nearly breaking his back as it bounced up and down on his spine. As he tried to remember all of the vocabulary words for his english quiz that day, something caught his eye across the street and he slowed.

Suddenly there was a yell, then something skidded past him, and next thing he saw was a bike crashing.

“Shit,” Keith jogged over, “Are you okay?”

The biker groaned in response. He grabbed the guy's shoulder to see if he was bleeding or anything. Then he stopped.

“Lance?”

“I'm good," Lance said while pulling himself up a bit, "It’s-”

He stopped when he saw the face looking back at him.

“ _Motorcycle boy?_ ”

Keith frowned at him. Lance remembered that?

“Um,” he said, then shook his head and held up his hand, “How many fingers am I holding.”

“Huh?”

“You hit your head on the sidewalk, right? How many fingers.”

“Uh, two.”

Keith sighed in relief, but that didn't mean he was completely fine.

“Can you stand?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Lance pulled himself up unsteadily. He went to take a step on his other leg then stumbled forward, making a surprised yelp in pain.

Keith jumped forward and caught Lance by the shoulders.

“Or nah,” said Lance.

He looked up at him and gave a small pained smile. Keith's breath caught, but he quickly shook the feeling away. They needed to get him help.

“We should probably take you to the hospital or something.”

“No, I'm fine.”

He tried to take a step away, but yelped again and grabbed for his arms.

Keith smirked a little as he steadied Lance to lean against him.

“Yeah, alright.”

Keith threw Lance's arm over his shoulder, placing his other hand cautiously over his waist. He tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach as he felt Lance press against him.

Lance rested most of his weight on Keith as they started to limp toward the nearest hospital, which unfortunately, was a couple blocks away. Maybe Keith wouldn't have to take that quiz today after all.

After a couple steps in silence, Keith turned back.

“Uh, what should we do with your bike?”

Lance glanced back, “Ugh, you're right. Chains in my backpack, can you just lock it to that pole.”

Keith nodded and Lance shifted to lean against a stop sign while Keith dug through his backpack.

“Are you sure you can carry this?”

Lance nodded, “Yeah, it's just my ankle.”

Keith took the chain out and locked Lance's bike to the fence he crashed into, then made his way back. Lance immediately threw his arm around Keith's shoulder and smiled the same beaming smile from the flower shop.

Keith stared at it critically then shook his head and cleared his throat and started tugging Lance down the sidewalk.

“So,” Lance said, turning his head to Keith as they limped along, “You know my name, motorcycle boy?”

Keith felt his face burn furiously and he stared determinedly forward.

“Uh, yeah. I saw you in the cafeteria the other day and my friend told me.”

“So you were talking about me, huh?”

“Um, I just pointed you out, that's all.”

“Oh, don't worry. I don't mind,” Keith could hear the smirk in Lance's voice, “but I would like to know your’s too. You know, so I don't have to keep calling you motorcycle boy.”

Keith looked over at the boy who was practically draped over him. He studied the smile that he wore confidently despite the obvious pain he was in.

“Keith,” he choked and then cleared his voice, “Keith Kogane.”

Lance smiled even bigger and repeated his name back, making Keith's stomach jump.

“So, tell me, _Keith_. You do this sort of thing often?”

Keith snorted, “Yes, actually. I spend my weekends escorting hopeless flirts to the emergency room.”

“Sorry, I just-” Lance waved the hand not draped over Keith's shoulder in the air.

“You're fine,” Keith said back, fighting a smile.

They came up to Keith's apartment. The hospital was just two more blocks down, but even Keith was getting tired of lugging Lance and his backpack around. 

“Hey, this is my place. I'm gonna take our bags in and we'll keep going. Why don't you, uh, call your parents or something.”

“Oh, okay.”

Lance shrugged out of his backpack and handed it over, looking over the building as Keith took it and jogged in.

He ran up the stairs and put his and Lance's backpack on the counter before slamming the door and running back down. He drifted down the stairs and out the door. The morning had finally gotten busy and more and more people were walking the sidewalk.

“Hey,” said the lanky boy leaning against the wall of Keith's apartment, “Ready to get this show back on the road?”

Keith stepped over to Lance awkwardly and Lance fell onto his shoulder.

“I guess we may be a little late to school, huh?”

“Yeah,” Keith responded “pity.”

“Ha,” Lance huffed, then winced as he took his next step.

They crossed the street and down another block in silence.

“So, your brother's girlfriend’s parents, did they like the flowers?”

“Hmm?” Keith said, “Oh. Yeah.”

“You don't know, do you?”

“No,” Keith said, “Of course not.”

They took another step.

Keith cleared his throat, “You're grandma, is she-”

“She’s fine,” Lance said, “Out of the hospital, actually.”

“Good.”

Lance nodded. Then another silence.

“So what class are you missing?”

“English,” Keith said, “I should be taking a quiz right now.”

“Pity.”

“What about you?” Keith asked, they rounded the corner and Keith could see the entrance to the emergency room.

“Physics. Mr. Fischer will definitely be disappointed his star student isn't there to make everyone's lives a little brighter.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Yeah, Fischer must love you.”

“You take AP Physics?”

“Yeah.”

Lance nodded, “Looks like we're here.”

Keith removed Lance's arm from his shoulder and opened the door, holding it as Lance limped in, wincing.

Keith took Lance's arm over his shoulder again as they made their way to the desk. He filled out his part of the sheet then passed it over and stood by as Lance filled out his information after telling the lady at the desk what happened. Lance handed the clipboard over and turned to Keith. 

“You, uh- you don't have to stay,” Lance said.

Keith wrinkled his eyebrows, but then realized he had his arms crossed, squinting at Lance as he watched him. _Body language_ , he could hear Shiro chide.

He dropped his arms, “Of course I'm staying. At least until your parents get here. I mean, you crashed because of me, the least I can do is-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Lance said, “That wasn't your fault. I was the one on the bike!”

“Yeah, but I should have been looking at what was coming at me. I got distracted.”

“But still, I was on the bike.”

“But-”

“Lance Sanchez?” Interrupted a professional voice.

Lance threw his arm around Keith's shoulder and Keith stumbled a bit at the sudden weight before wrapping his arm around Lance's waist again to steady him.

“Alright, fix me up, doc.”

“I'm not your doctor,” said the professional man with the clipboard, “but we'll get you taken care of.”

Lance smirked over at Keith and he rolled his eyes.

Keith stayed back, arms folded as they asked his weight and height. They waited in silence for the doctor. Lance poked at the equipment hanging on the wall, but jumped away when the door pushed open.

“Lance Sanchez, is that right?”

Lance straightened, “That's me.”

Keith watched as the doctor asked questions and then lifted Lance's pant leg and checked out his ankle.

The doctor said that it wasn't broken, just sprained. But he would have to wear a sling and crutches for the next month or so. 

Lance nodded, looking stunned.

“I need your parents to be here to give you any medication for the pain, are they on the way?”

“My dad is.” 

“Good, I'll be right back. Once he gets here we'll sort it all out.”

Lance nodded again as the doctor left. He looked to Keith then back away.

Suddenly, the door opened again and a big man pushed his way inside.

“Hijo, are you okay? Does it hurt?”

“I'm fine, papá,” he shrugged away from the hands that we're now gripping his face. Keith looked away awkwardly. He shifted his weight toward the door.

“I guess I'll go. Now that your dad's here-”

“Wait, Keith,” Lance said, moving toward him on the medical bed, then wincing at the pain.

“Could I get your number?”

“Uh,” Keith blinked, blushing as he glanced between Lance and his dad.

“You know, so I can get my backpack from you later.”

“Oh,” Keith shook his head, “Of course, uh. Give me your phone.”

Lance nodded and got out his phone and passed it over.

Keith typed it in and tried to control the flush working its way up his neck as their hands brushed.

“Thanks,” Lance’s smile brightened but Keith tried not to read into that.

“I'll see you at school. Text me when to bring it to you.”

“Okay,” Lance beamed, “See you then.”


	3. Google Search: How do you text cute boys?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why this took me so long to write... hopefully I'll get back into a writing kick and be able to get the rest of this out. Thanks for reading. Comment your thoughts or whatever :)

“Let me get this straight, you got to skip the English quiz because Lance broke his leg?”

Keith rolled his eyes, tapping his pencil on the table, “He didn’t break his leg, he sprained his ankle.”

“Still,” they said, “That is completely unfair to the rest of us.”

Keith rolled his eyes and pulled Pidge’s textbook over to his side of the table. They had spent the last hour or so making the Kitchen into a study room. At least three study guides were scattered amongst various textbooks and worksheets. The wood on the table wasn't visible anymore.

“Wait, you said that you left his backpack in your apartment?”

“Yeah,” said Keith without looking up.

Pidge looked up from their computer, “So you have to give it back.”

Keith looked up confused, “Well, I’m not going to keep it.”

“Yeah, but that means you’ll have to see him again. Which means you are going to talk to him again.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Yeah, he’ll text me and come over and get it.”

“He’ll text you?” Pidge gaped, “You gave him your number!?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it was like that. It was honestly just for the backpack.”

“Bullshit.”

“Pidge, language. What would Shiro say?”

“Like fuck, it was just for the backpack. He could have just had you meet him at school if that was all it was.”

Keith shook his head and looked back at his pencil as it rested halfway through a sentence on his paper. He had spent too much time since that Friday thinking about the thing with Lance. Honestly, he had no idea if it meant anything or not, but he was leaning toward not. Sure he acted pretty flirty with him when they were walking to the hospital but, from what Pidge described, Keith was pretty sure that was just his personality.

Pidge shook their head, “I don’t really have anything against Lance. I just, I don’t want you to let it get to you if he does end up asking you out. From what I’ve heard he rarely goes out with the same person twice.”

Keith nodded, “Yeah, I know Pidge. Thanks.”

Pidge looked at him a second longer before taking their textbook back, “Did you figure out number twelve?”

They continued working, moving from class to class. They had been at it for at least two hours when finally Pidge closed their laptop, “That was the longest Comp Sci project I have ever completed. I feel so accomplished.”

Keith didn’t glance up, “congratulations.”

“I'm done with everything now.”

“Cool,” Keith said, continuing to scratch at his papers, determined to finish his Chemistry lab before Sunday.

“Come on, Keith,” Pidge said, “take a break. We could go work on fixing that old laptop Shiro left you.”

“He only gave that broken piece of garbage to me because you practically had a break down when he said he was throwing it away.”

“Throwing away a beautiful piece of technology for those new University mandated laptops is a crime against nature and you know it.”

“Pidge, you were just praising their 'elegant flexibility and functionality’ this morning.”

“Hey now,” Pidge said, pushing their chair back and starting to collect the papers that littered the table.

Keith was just about to continue when his phone buzzed. He shut his jaw as the screen glowed with a new message. In hindsight it could have been his mom or Shiro, but he was sure it was Lance.

And it was.

(555) 555-0420: _Hey, is this Keith?_

Keith: _Yeah_

(555) 555-0420: _nice! and btw this is the guy whose legs u broke_

 _Contact saved: Lance_  
Keith: _Your ankle is sprained, Lance_

Lance: _whatever_

Lance: _so, my backpack?_

Keith: _Yeah?_

Lance: _You have it. I unfortunately need it back. Could I swing by this evening?_

Lance: _My mom demanded she make you cookies though so I probably have to stay a while to help you eat those_

“Hey, what are you smiling at?” Pidge said, suddenly looking up from the laptop they had reopened.

“I’m not smiling,” Keith said, smiling.

“Yes, you are,” Pidge said.

“No, I’m not,” he shot back.

“Keith, I had Matt as an older brother, I could do this for days.”

“Okay, but I’m not smiling,” his smile had faded by that point.

“Well, not anymore. What were you smiling at?”

“It’s nothing,” he shrugged.

Pidge squinted their eyes and closed their laptop slowly. 

“What is it, Keith?”

Keith turned off his phone screen and set it on the table, “Nothing.”

“You know that makes it even more suspicious, right? Just tell me.”

“Just a text.”

“From?” then Pidge got it, “From Lance! He texted you finally?”

“I don’t know what you mean ‘finally’, I just gave him my number yesterday.” 

Pidge picked his phone up off the table and held it up to their face.

“Good luck with that. You don’t know my password,” Keith smirked with crossed arms.

A click from across the table signaled Keith’s phone unlocking.

“What? How did you-”

“Come on, if you don’t think I know how to break into your shittily protected phone, then you don’t know me at all.”

Keith looked away and waited in silence as Pidge went through their short conversation.

“He’s expecting you to hang out with him when he comes over tonight.”

“Evening,” Keith corrected, “And so what?”

Pidge rolled their eyes and pushed the phone back across the table. Keith took it back and unlocked it to reply to Lance.

“I know you’re bad at reading into social cues and all that, but come on.”

Keith just rolled his eyes again.

 

Lance laid in his bed, phone over his face as he rested on his back. It was just past lunch and he had just finished up a worksheet for US history and he was done for the day.

He had the radio on as he tried to decide on the best contact name for Keith. His phone beeped every once in awhile with a new message and a smile spread over his face as he replied. This was his favourite part about trying to ask someone out. Dancing around things, hinting at stuff, even if he wasn’t so subtle about it.

Hunk teased him for getting too into it, but the truth was, it was fun. Sure, he’d get rejected every once in a while for coming on too strong or whatever reason, but it was fine because then he would just move onto the next person. There wasn’t really a harm in this part of flirting. He really did enjoy it.

Suddenly, the door to his room flew open and a tall dark-haired girl groaned and immediately threw herself on top of Lance.

“ _Adriana_ , get off,” Lance whined.

“No, hermanito. My legs are too tired and I can’t get up.”

“I’m the one with the actual broken leg.”

“Your ankle is just sprained, that's what mama told me, hermanito,” she corrected.

“Whatever. And stop calling me hermanito. Just because you’re in college now doesn’t mean you’re more than two years older.”

She hummed in acknowledgement before turning the sound into a groan, “Lance, I’m bored.”

“Then go bug someone else. I’m busy.”

“Oh yeah? Doing what?”

“None of your business.”

She quirked an eyebrow before a mischievous smile spread across her face. She suddenly sprang for Lance’s phone, fumbling with him for a second before ripping it from his hands.

“Adriana!”

She held it away as he grasped for it before turning it on and going through the texts.

“Ooh what's this?”

“Adriana, come on.”

She held his face away as she continued to the end of the conversation.

“A boy?” she asked before tossing the phone back on the bed. Lance grappled with it before turning back to her with a pitiful pout.

She walked over to his desk and sat down, swivelling back and forth on her toes before leaning forward, “What’s his name, I’m guessing it’s not really ‘Motorcycle Boy’.”

“Keith,” he sighed before replying to the latest message and turning his phone off.

“The 'Keith' the cookies are for?”

“Maybe.”

“Wow, lucky,” she said, “He already has mama’s approval and she hasn’t even met him yet. Not that you would ever introduce him.”

“Hey!” Lance said, laughing as he threw a pillow at her, “Don’t act like you didn’t date around in high school, I know you had plenty of boyfriends mamá and papá didn’t meet.”

“Yeah but none of them had a _motorcycle_.”

Lance rolled his eyes.

“So you’re meeting him tonight?”

“I guess, but it’s not like that. I might ask him out then, I don’t know.”

“You sure he’s into that? We don’t want a repeat of that one guy, what was his name?”

“Tyler? Ugh,” Lance frowned, “Just by the name and his stupid sunglasses I should have none that guy would be a douche bag.”

“I guess, but you know what I mean. I don’t want you to get punched in the face inside his house.”

“This guy is definitely not going to fight me. And I’m like 80 percent sure he is. He didn’t exactly shut down any of my flirting so.”

Adriana hummed. They sat together in the quiet for a second.

“Hey Lance.”

“Mm?” Lance replied, slightly distracted by his phone.

“Don’t just brush me off, okay?” she said, “How are you?”

“Fine.”

“Dude.”

“I really am though. I’ve got mostly ‘A’s, Hunk is still Hunk, and I’m going over to see this cute boy tonight. I’m good.”

Adriana sighed, “Alright, I’m just worried about you sometimes. I know high school is all angsty and all that, and I mean college is too. Just, I want you to be happy.”

“Oh my gosh, stop being so cheesy. You’re gone for like three weeks and suddenly you’re Tía Benita.”

“Okay, okay fine.”

She swiveled around again and Lance looked back at his phone. She leaned over and picked a jacket off the guitar by his desk. She pulled it into her lap and picked at a few off the strings. It was terribly out of tune.

Lance looked up as she fiddled with knobs and plucked experimentally at the strings.

“You’re making it worse,” Lance said, placing his phone back down and rolling over to his back again.

“I never had the ear like you did.”

“Trust me, we all know.”

“Ay, rude.”

Lance chuckled a bit.

“Don’t you have a date to get ready for or something,” she said as she put the guitar back and stood up.

“How dare you. I’m just getting my backpack and thanking a kind boy with cookies for helping me get to the hospital. Is that so wrong?”

“When you do it, yes,” she said as she closed the door behind her.

Lance fell back on his bed and picked up his phone again. He let the smile that itched to spread across his face tilt his lips. 

 

After finally finishing his lab, Keith spent a good twenty minutes cleaning up the kitchen table. He spent another thirty minutes reorganizing his backpack. Then ten trying to get his room back in order, not that anything was really out of place. 

He was halfway through trying to convince himself that there was no need to sweep his floors despite the spot he swore he could see by the door, when something brushed against his calf. 

“Hey, girl. You hungry?” he asked, picking up Charlie and carrying her to the kitchen. Usually, the cat would squirm and try to jump out of his arms, but she let Keith hold her and even purred as he pet her as he crossed the apartment.

When he got to the kitchen he dropped her, but she walked in close circles around his feet while he got out her food. While he was preparing it, the buzz came from the door and he hurried to finish up before walking to the buzzer.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Lance.”

He buzzed him in and went back to the kitchen to throw away the empty food package.

Soon, there was a knock at the door and Keith took a breath. He didn’t know why he was suddenly psyched out about this. He looked around the room one last time before stepping around the island and stopping at the front door.

He swung the door open to see Lance leaning dramatically on the door frame. 

Keith let out the tension he had built up in his shoulders in the form of an inaudible huff at the gorgeous boy on the other side of the doorframe. He smirked a bit before raising an eyebrow.

“Hey,” Lance said, motioning a bit with the plate of covered cookies in his hands, “Wanna see how my cookie crumbles?”

Keith snorted before he could catch himself and stepped aside to let Lance in. Lance smirked as he stepped through the door. Keith watched him take cautious steps inside.

“Uh,” Keith said a little awkwardly, “could you take off your shoes.”

“Hmm?” Lance said looking around the room, “Oh, yeah sure.”

“I’ll go get your backpack, you can just-” Keith waved vaguely toward the kitchen bar.

He got back and Lance was sitting on one of the bar stool, half a cookie in his mouth.

Keith handed the bag over and crumbs fell down Lance's chin as he tried to work a ‘thank you’ out of his stuffed mouth.

Suddenly, Charlie jumped onto the counter and Lance yelped, startled.

“Oh, that’s Charlie. She’s my cat,” Keith said, running a hand through his hair..

“Oh,” Lance said, letting the cat sniff his hand before scratching behind her ear and running his hand down her back, “Hey, Red”

Keith paused, “What did you just call my cat?”

“Red,” Lance said, “because her fur.”

“Lance, that is orange. That is an orange cat.”

“But I can’t call a cat orange. ‘Hey Orange’. See, doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

“You can't call her ‘Red’ either.”

“Well, what am I supposed to call her?”

“Charlie.”

Lance laughed a little, “You're no fun.”

Keith rolled his eyes. 

The two stood there a moment hovering unsurely by the counter. Keith didn’t really know where to go from there. He wasn’t exactly used to having people over at his house since the only people he was close enough with to invite over was either blood related or Pidge, and Pidge didn’t require much entertainment. 

He looked up from where his eyes had found themselves trained on the ground to see Lance considering him. Keith shifted a little weight to his other foot at the attention, turning his eyes away again to Charlie. She had found her way over to Lance again, nudging at his hand. Keith watched as Lance broke his gaze from Keith to smile over at the cat and run a hand through her fur.

As Lance’s hand ran up and down her back, It was almost nice instead of awkward. Keith jumped as Lance suddenly jerked away as if he just remembered something incredibly important.

“Here,” Lance said, handing a cookie over from the plate, “My mom's cookies will actually murder your taste buds.”

“Wow, I don't know if I should be excited or scared.”

“Definitely excited, but probably a little scared, they are pretty orgasmic.”

“I… don't even know what to say to that.”

Lance stood closer to push the cookie into his hands, “Just try it.”

Keith reluctantly took the cookie from Lance, hyper aware of the distance that separated the two.

The moment the taste hit his mouth, any tension he was feeling melted. Orgasmic became an incredibly appropriate word. 

“Oh my God,” the thing almost fell out of his. 

Lance smirked as Keith took another bite and moaned.

“How does she make these?” Keith asked astounded, shoving another bite into his mouth.

“If I told you my mom would have to kill you.”

“If my mom had half the baking ability as this single cookie, maybe i wouldn’t be completely useless in a kitchen,” Keith remarked as he finished one cookie and automatically grabbed for another.

“Well, I’m not completely helpless when it comes to baking,” Lance said, “maybe I could teach you sometime.”

Keith paused in the middle of his bite and looked up at Lance, who was smirking at him from the counter. Keith quickly continued chewing, pressing his wrist to his mouth as he swallowed.

“Maybe.”

Lances smirk grew into a smile that briefly caught Keith off guard. 

“Really?”

“Uh,” Keith said, “I mean-”

There was a jingle at the door and Keith straightened his back, taking a step back from Lance as the two had gravitated slowly closer over the half-eaten plate of cookies. Lance looked at him questioningly as Keith walked over to greet his mom at the door.

“Hey, mom,” Keith said, taking her purse when she handed it over. She kicked off her shoes by Lance’s.

“Hey, Keith. How has your-” then she saw Lance and straightened, running a hand over the apron she still had on from work, “Oh, uh, hi? Um, I’m Keith’s mom, but you can call me Mrs.Kogane, or, heck just call me Linda. I didn’t know Keith was having anyone over.”

She directed the last line at Keith who was standing awkwardly between them.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t know you would be back so early,” he winced, “I mean, he was just leaving. This is Lance.”

Lance stood and leaned across Keith to shake her hand, “Hi. It’s nice to meet you, you have such a nice house.”

“Thank you, but it wouldn’t be half as nice without Keith.”

Keith blushed a bit and looked away as Lance raised his eyebrows at him.

“Oh.”

The tension in the room slowly built and Keith wasn’t quite sure how to relieve it. Lance opened his mouth to speak but Keith’s mom interrupted as she made her way across the room, untying her apron.

“So what were you two up to?”

“Lance was just coming by to pick up his backpack.”

His mom looked at him confused, “Why did you have his backpack?”

Lance gaped, “You didn’t tell her?”

“Tell me what?”

“That Keith here single-handedly saved my life and delivered me to the hospital.”

His mom raised both her eyebrows and looked over at Keith.

Keith shook his head, leaning back on the counter with crossed arms, but a faint smile over his lips, “That is not what happened.”

“Yes it is,” Lance said, “Here I came racing down the sidewalk on my bike, when suddenly I was distracted and bam!-”

Lance launched into a slightly inaccurate but elaborate and expressive retelling of the event. His hands flew around him and his eyes danced. Keith watched as he excitedly told his mother their trip to the hospital. His mom was completely immersed and Keith would be too if he weren’t hyperaware of his mom’s questioning glances every time Lance’s focus shifted away from her and toward Keith.

“-And that’s how your son saved my leg from being amputated and why my mom baked you all these cookies. Here try one.”

Keith watched as his mom took a cautious bite and then smiled as her face broke into complete amazement. It was almost comical how dramatic her expression was and he wondered if the face he made had been as extreme. 

Somehow the conversation shifted to how Lance had mentioned them meeting before and describing that story. His mom was surprised by the coincidence and expressed as much. Lance joked about it being destiny. Then the conversation shifted away into Lance and his family and Keith found his tension releasing with that of the room’s.

“Lance, you said you drove here?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“How do you drive with your ankle?”

“Ha,” he said awkwardly rubbing his neck, “To be completely honest, it was a little difficult. But don’t worry about me, I got myself here, I can get home.”

“Don’t be crazy, Keith why don’t you put your bike in his truck and drive him home? It’s the least he could do for these cookies.”

Lance looked over at Keith unsure, “Well those were a thank you for-”

“I know, but I think we can all agree that those are worth at least three trips to the hospital.”

Keith took Lance’s keys from the counter.

“You’re right, mom,” Keith said, looking at Lance, “Let me drive you home.”

Lance’s mouth was open, looking between the two before returning to his smirk.

“Alright, my pleasure.”

Keith laughed, “Shut up.”

Keith’s mom looked between the two, “Unless you want to stay for dinner?”

“No. Thank you, though. My sister is back from college this week so I should head back for dinner with them,” Lance said, he looked at Keith “You ready?” 

“Definitely,” he grabbed his bike keys and the two headed for the door.

“Hey, boys,” the two turned around, “don’t forget Lance’s backpack.”

Lance let a blush and embarrassed smile creep across his face, “I completely forgot.”


	4. Google Search: What is in a health shake?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I planned out this plot before they released character ages. So before Shallura was problematic. But OK FIGHT ME ALLURA DOES NOT ACT LIKE A FUCKING TEEN THE WRITERS NEED TO STOP okay I'm done.
> 
> Also this is angsty lmao

The rain poured off the awning and dumped like a makeshift waterfall beside Lance’s shoulder. He and Hunk were waiting for the rain to let up so Lance wouldn’t slip with his crutches on the pavement.

“-and I just think you would really like it. It’s better than the last biography.”

“I don’t know, Hunk. What did you say this dude’s deal was?”

“He’s only the father of spectroscopy. His work in light was revolutionary for the time and…”

He hated tuning out Hunk, he really did, but sometimes Lance just could not be any less interested in physics and engineering and whatever else Hunk was into. 

His eyes drift away from Hunk’s face and down somewhere to his left. Out in the parking lot there was some movement. Lance shifted his weight to peer around Hunk’s huge body to get a better look.

He got a excited when he realized it was Keith.

They had seen each other only a few times in passing in the hallways at school. He had tried a few times to stop him and talk to him, but it both had always had somewhere else to be. They had texted after the first night though. They talked a lot about nothing really, but when Keith eased up, he was pretty funny and interesting.

He peered around Hunk a little more to see Keith talking to Pidge from his Calc class, both of them drenched but neither seemed to notice. Keith was leaning on one hip and had his arms crossed, nodding occasionally to whatever Pidge was saying. 

Eventually, Pidge just waved their arms and walked off down the street. Keith yelled something after them, but all Lance caught was the name.

Pidge replied shortly and then was gone.

The rain had eased down to a slight drizzle and Keith was reaching for his helmet.

All of a sudden, Lance looked back to Hunk, who hadn’t even noticed Lance’s lack of attention, still going on about the light guy.

“Hey,” Lance said, patting Hunks shoulder.

“What are you-”

“Hold up, buddy,” Lance said, before adjusting his crutches and moving past him to yell, “Hey, Keith!”

Keith turned around confused, then his eyes settled on Lance and his face quirked up in a small crooked smile.

Lance's stomach jumped but he tried to hide it as he walked quickly over to where Keith stood, his crutches making that surprisingly difficult.

“Hey.”

He stopped right by Keith's bike and smiled at him. Keith's hair was wet and sticking to his face. His eyes looked back at him, one eyebrow quirked up in question. 

Lance hadn’t payed much attention to Keith’s eyes in their previous meetings, now he was lost in and a little confused by their color. They were definitely dark, but also purple? Did people actually have purple eyes in real life? Was that just something Lance had never noticed in other people or-

“Did you want something or-” Keith started.

His voice shook Lance out of his trance and he broke in, “You brought your bike today?”

“Yeah?”

“Um,” Lance shook his head “You usually walk, don't you?”

Lance winced. Great, now he sounds like a stalker.

“Not when it's raining.”

Oh. Duh. Lance kicked himself mentally.

“Right,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and adjusted his crutches. He looked back up and tried to keep the red from creeping up his neck.

Keith smirked a little at him, “Something on your mind?”

“Oh, right,” he said quickly, “You said you take physics, right?”

“Yeah?”

“So you know the test coming up?”

“Sure?”

“Well, I'm kind of confused about a lot of it and Hunk’s been busy so I was wondering- I mean everybody knows you're super smart and like perfect so I didn't know if...”

Keith raised his eyebrows.

Lance exhaled and tried to regain his confidence. Why was he so nervous about this? He was pretty sure Keith wouldn't reject him, so he shouldn't be this freaked out. Why was his stomach so jittery?

He tried on a sly smile, “And since you basically broke my leg...”

“You're ankle is _sprained _, Lance.”__

__“Could you help me out? Like tutor me or something?”_ _

__Lance finally looked up from the ground and Keith was still smiling at him. Lance couldn't help but smile back._ _

__Keith's crossed arms loosened and he shifted his weight. He looked Lance up and down and there was a long moment of silence._ _

__Lance started feeling more and more anxious as he anticipated his response. He was so sure, but yet… Had he read into everything wrong? Had Keith just been playing along but not actually interested in Lance? Was he being too forward? Or not forward enough?_ _

__Maybe he could just play this off as nothing. He could still back out and say, “not like a date or anything.”. But that was what he meant. And he was sure his body language and comments from before made that clear. But he could still back out._ _

__It was weird, that feeling. He was not used to it at all. He was used to having the upper hand. Being the one to have the courage to actually ask someone out usually felt like having power, being confident, but this felt different. Keith was holding onto words that had more weight than Lance was used to. He actually cared this time._ _

__Suddenly, he was scared. If he rejected him, would they stop talking? He actually liked Keith, was this worth losing a potential friendship?_ _

__He was about the back out when he noticed Keith's expression change._ _

__“Sure, I guess that's fair.”_ _

__Lance couldn't help the relieved smile that stretched across his face. He was still shaky, but it was more excitement now. He saw Keith's mouth twitch up at the corner and his smile widened along._ _

__“Cool,” Lance said, trying to keep up his usual routine which was starting to fall apart._ _

__Keith nodded but didn't break eye contact, “Do you want to meet at the library?”_ _

__Lance laughed a little. He had spent all that time waiting for Keith to possibly show up at the library and now he was planning to meet him there._ _

__“Sure,” he said, “I'll text you.”_ _

__“Cool,” Keith replied as Lance had before, the word sounding different and a little unnatural coming from him._ _

__Lance smiled at that; it was pretty cute._ _

__They both stood there, not really sure what else to say. Lance didn't want to leave yet, but bit his lip at the thought of saying something else to make him stay._ _

__Another moment passed and Keith broke eye contact, moving a hand to brush the hair from his face. He grabbed his helmet from the seat of his bike._ _

__“I get to throw away these crutches tomorrow,” he said, as he took a few steps with Keith over to his bike._ _

__“Congratulations.”_ _

__“Thanks.”_ _

__They looked at each other a bit longer._ _

__“I'm just going to-”_ _

__“Oh, yeah sure,” Lance said, backing up a little with his crutches, “I'll text you.”_ _

__Keith smiled and threw his leg over his seat, strapping the helmet on._ _

__He waved a gloved hand before starting up his engine and pulling away. Lance watched as Keith's figure disappeared down the street._ _

__He turned back to Hunk to see him smiling and shaking his head._ _

__Lance made his way back. The crutches had started to hurt his armpits as the day went on, but even that couldn't keep the smile off his face._ _

__“What are you smiling at?”_ _

__Hunk huffed, “ _You _need help in Physics?”___ _

____“Eavesdropping much?”_ _ _ _

____“That’s like your highest grade! That's your good class!”_ _ _ _

____Lance shrugged, “I still have one or two questions.”_ _ _ _

____“Sure,” Hunk smiled as he tilted up his head._ _ _ _

____“I do!”_ _ _ _

____“Right.”_ _ _ _

____Lance pushed past him towards Hunk’s car._ _ _ _

____“Just shut up and drive me home.”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Keith’s mom shook her head to herself as she looked down at her plate, “I just don’t know how I raised two boys so healthy and fit while I’m such an unhealthy disaster.”_ _ _ _

____“Mom, you’re not a disaster,” said Shiro._ _ _ _

____“Really Ms. Kogane, you look very well,” Allura said._ _ _ _

____“Thank you guys, but what I mean is I don’t know how you turned out to have such a healthy lifestyle. And now you’ve converted your girlfriend to be a fitness freak just like yourself.”_ _ _ _

____“Oh, I didn’t convert her,” Shiro said, “If anything, she’s made me even healthier. Tell her about those health shake things you got me into.”_ _ _ _

____Pidge groaned, but Keith’s mom sent daggers with her eyes and Pidge tried desperately to turn the sound into a cough._ _ _ _

____“Well,” Allura started, “you start with some kale and spinach and puree that.”_ _ _ _

____Pidge made a face of disgust but hid it by pretending to wipe something off their face with a napkin. Keith smirked at them across the table._ _ _ _

____“Then you add in some fruits to make it sweet. I prefer blueberries or bananas.”_ _ _ _

____Keith and Pidge made eye contact across the table and Pidge fake gagged, only to get a sharp nudge in the side by Keith’s mom._ _ _ _

____“Oh, that sounds lovely,” Linda said pointedly._ _ _ _

____“Oh that’s not all that goes in it. I usually mix in protein powder and some vitamin supplements. It’s taken me years to perfect.”_ _ _ _

____“Wow,” Keith said, it was the first time he had said anything throughout the dinner. Everyone turned to him at once, “she’s even worse than you are, Shiro.”_ _ _ _

____Ms. Kogane took her napkin and hit him with it lightly, “Keith!”_ _ _ _

____Shiro was already laughing, “I know she is. It’s great.”_ _ _ _

____“I’ve added a bunch of new exercises to his routine as well,” Allura added._ _ _ _

____Pidge laughed at that, “You really did find a match for you, huh Shiro?”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah,” he said, looking at her, “I really did.”_ _ _ _

____From there the conversation shifted to Shiro’s college experiences and to various stories Allura had to tell, many of which made Pidge and Keith crack up._ _ _ _

____“Oh, and there was this one time when he came back to the apartment covered in honey at about 3 in the morning!”_ _ _ _

____“What!” Pidge laughed, “How did that even happen?”_ _ _ _

____“It was your brother’s fault!” Shiro said, pointing at Pidge._ _ _ _

____“I believe that a hundred percent, but still tell the story, Allura.”_ _ _ _

____She launched into it, hands waving around her and everyone was so enveloped, even Keith. He had been worried that having Allura there would make it awkward. He knew how his mom got when meeting new people and that was the main reason he had insisted Pidge come. But everything was working out a lot better than he anticipated. His mom was more relaxed than when she was usually trying to impress people._ _ _ _

____The story came to an end and practically everyone was in tears. It took the table a minute to compose itself._ _ _ _

____Then the atmosphere shifted and Shiro looked across the table at Keith._ _ _ _

____“So, how are you doing?” Shiro asked._ _ _ _

____Keith looked back up, a little surprised to be put on the spot. Pidge looked at him across the table._ _ _ _

____“Uh, I’m great. Schools going good; A’s as always,” he said._ _ _ _

____“So you are doing alright now?”_ _ _ _

____Their mom looked at Shiro with a sharp looked. Once she caught his eye, she quirked her eyebrows and looked between him and Allura, who had started to notice the awkward shift in atmosphere, with a meaningful look._ _ _ _

____“Yeah,” Keith said and cleared his throat, “I’m alright.”_ _ _ _

____There was a weighted silence as Linda readjusted her seat and Pidge shifted uncomfortably._ _ _ _

____“Okay,” said Shiro, “just making sure everything was going okay. I don’t talk to you nearly as much as I should.”_ _ _ _

____Keith just nodded and looked down at his plate._ _ _ _

____Allura looked at Shiro a little concerned and questioning but didn’t say anything. Keith’s mom pushed her chair out. “Why don’t I take these plates back to the kitchen?”_ _ _ _

____“Oh, of course,” Allura said handing over her plate._ _ _ _

____Everyone gathered up their dishes and handed them to Ms. Kogane._ _ _ _

____Keith noticed Shiro and Pidge making faces and mumbling something to each other. Shiro nodded his head._ _ _ _

____“Well,” he said, “I’m going to go to the bathroom and then I need to ask Pidge something. My laptop’s been acting up and I don’t know why.”_ _ _ _

____“Okay,” Allura said, then raised her voice over to the kitchen “Ms. Kogane.”_ _ _ _

____“Yes?” she said, coming back into view. Keith noticed the new full wine glass in her hand and twitched his nose._ _ _ _

____“Why don’t Keith and I do the dishes for you?”_ _ _ _

____“Oh, dear, that won’t be necessary. You’re the guest and-”_ _ _ _

____“Oh, please. It’ll give me some time to get to know the brother Shiro goes on and on about. And I know you work so hard, you need a break. Please?”_ _ _ _

____“Um,” she looked a bit awkward, “Alright. If you’re really sure, free dish cleaning is fine with me.”_ _ _ _

____Keith pushed out his chair and lead Allura into the kitchen. He grabbed the stack of dishes his mom had placed in the sink and gathered all the pots and pans and set them on the counter. He waited for the water to get hot before plugging up the sink and squirting some dish soap in. He moved the faucet to the other side and filled it up._ _ _ _

____“You can be on rinsing,” he said to Allura as she spread a towel on the counter to set the dishes to dry on._ _ _ _

____“You got it, captain,” she said, readying herself by the rinsing water._ _ _ _

____Keith started scrubbing and Allura seemed to be looking for a way to get conversation started._ _ _ _

____“So,” she said, “this is a tight ship you run around here.”_ _ _ _

____“Ha,” he said, “I guess you could say that.”_ _ _ _

____“No really. Shiro tells me you’re the one who keeps things together around here?”_ _ _ _

____“I guess,” Keith shrugged._ _ _ _

____Allura shifted a bit and Keith felt a little bad for shutting her down. It wasn’t like he didn’t like her or anything, he just wasn’t too good at talking to new people. That was Shiro’s thing._ _ _ _

____“So I didn’t get to the most embarrassing Shiro story out there. I knew he wouldn’t let me tell it if I tried.”_ _ _ _

____“More embarrassing than the honey?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes,” Allura said mischievously._ _ _ _

____Keith waited but she didn’t start the story._ _ _ _

____“What did he do?”_ _ _ _

____“You have to promise not to tell,” Allura said._ _ _ _

____“Deal.”_ _ _ _

____“No, like swear it.”_ _ _ _

____“Okay, I swear.”_ _ _ _

____“Alright,” Allura said smirking and launched into another ridiculous story and eventually Keith eased up. When he started laughing was when Shiro came back into the kitchen. Keith tried to keep himself composed enough, trying not to let on to what Allura had been talking about._ _ _ _

____But Allura caved and the look on Shiro’s face when he realized what they had been talking about was priceless and Keith died laughing at the site._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Once everyone had gone home, Keith spent a few hours cleaning up the apartment while his mom drank another couple glasses on the couch. Eventually she passed out and Keith finished up cleaning the floor._ _ _ _

____After he put away all the cleaning supplies, Keith went over to the couch and looked over his mom._ _ _ _

____He pulled the glass from her hand and took the bottle from the table. He put bottle back in the cabinet and washed the glass by hand._ _ _ _

____She was still fast asleep when he went back to the living room. Keith sighed and pulled her up. He carried her back to bed, something he usually wouldn’t do, but he felt like he needed to that night. He laid her on top of the covers and pulled out a blanket from the chest at her bed and spread it over her._ _ _ _

____He looked her over: slacked jaw, messy hair and a little bit of drool at the edge of her mouth. He couldn’t remember her before the drinking, mostly because he was too young to remember her before their dad left._ _ _ _

____He knew Shiro did, and that was probably why he saw her a bit differently than Keith did._ _ _ _

____Shiro remembered what it was like when there family was at least kind of functional. He remembered when their mom could get herself to sleep without alcohol._ _ _ _

____As he looked at her face, he could imagine it younger, healthier. He could imagine her smile, a real smile, not like ones he knew from the past couple years without Shiro._ _ _ _

____He remembered her laughing at dinner. The smile on her face then was so genuine. Allura hadn’t been what his mom had expected when Shiro said he was bringing home a nice british girl. She wasn’t posh and sophisticated, which was the extent his mom knew of English people._ _ _ _

____She had gotten relaxed like she would normally when Shiro came over. But then Shiro had brought up Keith and she slipped away again._ _ _ _

____He didn’t know why he had to do that._ _ _ _

____He knew his mom had problems that had nothing to do with him. He knew logically that he wasn’t the cause of her drinking. But he couldn’t help but feel like he definitely contributed to the issue._ _ _ _

____As he looked at her he wished he could change where they were, the two of them. He wished he could make her laugh and feel at ease and at home like Shiro could sometimes. He wish he had more of himself to give to make her not work so hard._ _ _ _

____He sighed. He did all he could do around the house to keep it up for her so she didn’t have to. He didn’t need to get a job and help pay the bills if he did well enough in school._ _ _ _

____So he did what he could to keep the house in order so she wouldn’t have to. Or, at least that’s what he told himself. But really, he just couldn’t stand it sometimes. Everything felt like such a mess all the time and he just couldn’t sleep until it was cleaned._ _ _ _

____But even then he was restless and he knew she knew that. And she tried as much as she could to help, but Keith couldn’t stand adding to her pile of stressors. He hated being such an inconvenience._ _ _ _

____He took off his mom’s shoes and set them in her closet, straightening it up a bit before he left. He got to the door and looked back at her one more time before turning away and shutting off the light._ _ _ _

____The apartment was quiet again and felt even emptier than usual._ _ _ _

____Keith passed through the living room, determined not to look around and find something else out of place. When he opened the door to his room Charlie jumped down from the dresser and to his feet._ _ _ _

____He laughed, “You know sometimes you’re a lot more like a dog than a cat, greeting me at the door like that.”_ _ _ _

____He kneeled down and pet her._ _ _ _

____“I hope Shiro came in here and said hi. Sorry we had to keep you in here, but Allura’s allergic to you. Nothing personal.”_ _ _ _

____Charlie rubbed against his hand one more time before walking away and hopping onto the bed._ _ _ _

____“If it makes you feel better, I didn’t talk to Shiro much either,” Keith continued, “I think he spent more time with Pidge than anyone.”_ _ _ _

____He sat on the bed and Charlie climbed into his lap._ _ _ _

____“I think they were talking about me and how I've been doing,” he buried his fingers in her fur, “I wish they would just leave the worrying to me. Hell, I’m gonna do a shit load of worrying about everything anyway.”_ _ _ _

____He looked down at the cat and she was sleeping already, “I can’t blame them though. It’s not like I’ve been doing my best to give them nothing to worry about. God, I don’t know how they deal with me.”_ _ _ _

____He moved charlie over and laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling._ _ _ _

____“I don’t know how any of these people deal with me,” his voice was down to a whisper as he looked up._ _ _ _

____His thoughts started bouncing around through the night to every moment he felt was a little awkwarder than it should have been. Every second he could have done something or said something interesting._ _ _ _

____He suddenly remembered his conversation with Lance. He had been so caught up in talking to Pidge about dinner, he forgot to not be such an asshole to Lance. He thought about it, and he decided he hadn’t been that bad, but he could definitely have been a little better._ _ _ _

____He sat up suddenly._ _ _ _

____Had Lance asked him on a date?_ _ _ _

____Keith thought over it. He had asked him to tutor him, that certainly wasn’t a date thing to do. But then again, it was just him and Lance alone, not in a group. And Lance had acted nervous about asking._ _ _ _

____No, it wasn’t a date. That was crazy. What would a guy like Lance want to date Keith for? Lance was into the popular kids. The really attractive cool ones. Not loner boys like Keith that had one friend and never talked to anyone._ _ _ _

____He thought it over and analyzed and analyzed until his brain was back to criticizing his personality. Suddenly, he was back to thinking about dinner and his brain was going in circles._ _ _ _

____He rolled on his side and checked the time on his phone._ _ _ _

____It was only 1 am, not too late yet. He thought about calling Pidge. They had said to call if he needed anything. He knew where his thoughts were going so he picked up the phone._ _ _ _

____His finger hovered over Pidge’s contact. He even clicked it and let it ring. It felt weirdly surreal. He had never actually reached out to anyone when he felt like this before._ _ _ _

____“Keith?” Pidge’s voice was tired but didn’t sound like they had been asleep._ _ _ _

____Keith didn’t say anything. What would he say?_ _ _ _

____“Are you okay? What’s going on?”_ _ _ _

____What was he thinking? What would he even say? _Hey Pidge, I know it’s 1 am but I’m not feeling too great so I thought I’d bother you about it. _____ _ _

______“Uh,” he started, “Sorry, I must have rolled over onto my phone.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Um, okay,” Pidge said, “Do you need me to come over?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No, I’m good.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______There was a pause._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m gonna come over.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No!” Keith yelled, then lowered his voice to barely above a whisper, “no. I’m okay, really. About to go to sleep. Sorry for accidentally calling.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Right,” Pidge said, “I told you to call whenever. Seriously, if you need anything-”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Really, I’m good. Night.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He hung up and plugged in his phone on the nightstand, turning it on silent._ _ _ _ _ _

______He put his face in his hands. What had he been thinking?_ _ _ _ _ _

______He groaned and stared a bit more at the ceiling._ _ _ _ _ _

______He let his thoughts think whatever they wanted. And they did. For hours. He forced himself to not do anything about it._ _ _ _ _ _

______Eventually it got too loud and he sat up. He checked his phone, swiping away the texts from Pidge, and it was about 3:30, two hours before he would get up for a run anyway._ _ _ _ _ _

______He got up and pulled on his running clothes. It was better to just run it off than do anything else. Running at three a.m. was better than the alternative._ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I won't take another two months to update after this
> 
> (plz tell me about typos and stuff so I can fix it)


	5. Google Search: How to know if you’re on a date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Library Date is upon us

One downside of being a loner is never knowing what other people are looking for in social situations. Keith knew that tutoring meant studying, but he also knew Lance McClain meant talking. A lot. And Keith didn’t think he was well prepared. He shoved his backpack full of physics notes, a calculator, his text book, and his laptop and hoped that was enough for the tutoring part of this. 

As he walked down the street to the library, he tried to shake off the fluttering feeling tingling across his skin. After Lance had texted him, he spent nearly every moment thinking about what exactly they would be doing. 

The closer he got the more he regretted ever agreeing to this, but he kept going. He couldn’t stand the idea of standing someone up. By the time he opened the door to the library, he had shut down his nerves and reverted back to his distant and defensive act.

Libraries weren’t Keith’s usual place to hang out either. When he needed to study, he shut himself in his room and surrounded himself in a paper barricade of study guides. He hadn’t actually been in the library in years; he only barely recognized the layout from when he came with Shiro as a kid. For a moment, he took in that distant familiarity and loosened up at the memories of he and Shiro roaming the shelves and playing with the puzzles and blocks. 

He looked over toward the kids section, the only place he had ever been before, then turned his head the other way to search for Lance. As he went, he went back through his recent messages. They hadn’t been very clear or specific, something he was starting to recognize in Lance.  
A loud voice broke the quiet: “Keith!”

He turned abruptly toward Lance’s voice as he felt every head turn toward them. Lance’s smile took up most of his face and Keith felt his tension ease, another thing he realized came along with Lance. 

As Keith made his way toward the table in the far back, the table Lance had chosen for them, Lance pushed out his chair and stood up. Keith rolled his eyes and shook his head as he watched Lance pull Keith’s chair out for him and motion dramatically for him to sit.

He dropped his backpack on the floor and ignored Lance’s victorious smile as he sat in the chair Lance had pulled out.

“So,” Keith started, unzipping his backpack, “I’m guessing you have some questions?”

Lance smirked at him and Keith spread his stuff out across the table.

“Only one,” Lance said and Keith finally looked back over at him after his stuff was situated, “What are you doing for the rest of your life?”

“Is that how long this is going to take? I have to feed Charlie tonight at some point.”

“No, I meant-” Lance pulled back a bit and laughed a little, “nevermind.”

“Okay,” Keith said, pulling the notebook Lance had out over to him, “Where should we start?”

Lance opened his mouth to say something but closed it and chuckled again.

“Um,” he said, “Number six on the study guide.”

“Okay, I’ll see if I’ve finished that one yet.”

They went through a few problems, and Lance seemed to be getting everything. Keith was pretty sure this wasn’t going to take nearly as long as he had kind of hoped it would.

Suddenly, Lance pushed his notebook away and Keith looked up from the problem he was working.

“What?”

“Keith.”

He looked up again and was briefly caught off guard. He had been so distracted every other time he had been with Lance he had forgotten how mesmerizing his eyes had been that first day in the flower shop. He was suddenly remembering how easily they had him speechless.

He cleared his throat, “Yeah?” 

“What do you like to do,” Lance asked, breaking eye contact to push papers around the table with his pencil, “You know, for fun?”

Keith wrinkled his eyebrows. He didn’t do much else other than study and take care of the house.

“Um,” he said, “I go to the gym a lot, mostly in the mornings. Play video games with Pidge, I guess. Not much else really.”

“Hm,” Lance said, “What kind of video games do you play?”

“Mostly racing games, but sometimes we’ll get into an RPG and spend hours leveling up.”

Lance nodded his head.

There was a breath of silence and Keith waited for Lance to say something else. Most of their conversations were Lance leading and Keith trying to keep up. But texting and talking were two different things, and Keith was starting to learn that this sort of conversation was a two way street.

“Do you play any video games?”

Lance looked up and smiled back, a little surprised, “Not too much really. Hunk and I mess around on the WII sometimes, mostly just WII sports and Mario games. I never got too into the XBox like my brother did. I’ll play FIFA every once and awhile, though.”

“FIFA?”

“You know, the soccer game? It’s like the one video game every jock boy plays.”

“I don’t talk to many jock boys,” Keith replied.

Lance smiled, “I know.”

Keith looked back down and tried to focus on the problem he had been working on, but couldn’t seem to focus anymore. He put his pencil back down and looked back up at Lance. A blush crept onto his face when he found Lance still looking back at him.

“So,” Lance said, “What kinda stuff do you watch?”

“Mostly just documentaries and discovery channel shows, if I ever get the time.”

 

“Seriously?” Lance threw up his arms, “First Hunk and now you? Let me guess, you watch biographies about german physicists too?”

“No...” Keith said, confused.

“Well, what are they about mostly.”

Keith looked down and started poking at the table with his pencil again. After a moment of ignoring the question he looked back up at Lance then diverted his eyes again.

Lance leaned forward smirking, “Oh now you have to tell me.”

“Well, mostly...”

Lance raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

“Aliens.”

Lance snorted loudly then covered his mouth and lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Aliens?”

“Well not just aliens, also cryptids and-”

“Like bigfoot?” Lance laughed. 

Keith face was burning, “Look okay, there are thousands of documented encounters and-”

“Oh my gosh!”

“-AND the government doesn’t acknowledge half of them, and the ones they do they brush off like it’s nothing!”

Lance was laughing. His entire faces scrunched up and shoulders bouncing.

Keith reached across the table to slap his arm, trying to defend himself between the laughs that came out despite himself. 

“Look Lance, it’s people like you that let the government get away with hiding information from us.”

Lance shook his head and wiped at his eyes.

“It’s not a joke,” Keith laughed.

Lance’s chest was shaking and he couldn’t compose himself enough to respond.

“Excuse me,” an unfamiliar voice interrupted.

Keith’s smile dropped immediately and he straightened to address the librarian he hadn’t even seen coming. He kicked Lance under the table, who was failing at hiding his laughter which only grew as the librarian got more irritated.

“Sorry, ma’am. Lance has trouble keeping himself under control sometimes. We’ll settle down.”

“You better, this is a library and some people here are actually here to study, not pretend to study,” she said eyeing Lance the entire time.

Lance winked back before she scoffed and turned away. Keith turned to send daggers in Lance’s direction.

“It’s not even that funny.”

“I know,” Lance said, “you just got so red and riled up I couldn’t help it.”

Keith shook his head but smile despite himself.

They talked more about hobbies and school as Keith tried to keep Lance’s volume under control. Of course he failed anytime Lance started laughing as his ‘shh’s turned into giggles as well. He hadn’t felt so light hanging out with anyone in years. 

He had told Pidge that he had been “high on cute boy fumes” after that first day in the flower shop, but now he was pretty sure he was just high on Lance. Lance opened him up more than he was used to and sure the fact he was so free scared him a little, but he tried not to think about it because he was enjoying himself for once.

He enjoyed joking around with Lance as they got death stares from everyone else in the library. He enjoyed laughing at Lance’s bad pick up lines and flirtatious comments. For once, he enjoyed being the center of someone’s attention.

“Hey,” Lance whispered, leaning toward Keith, “Do you wanna get out of here?”

Keith’s heart jumped. He was pretty sure by now that this had been a date, but he was still surprised at the suggestion. 

He thought over the request and all the possible implications. If it was the kind of date Pidge had described, he was probably suggesting they go make out somewhere. That was something Keith had never really had the opportunity to do before. 

On the one hand, he did want to make out with Lance. A lot. He was attractive and not an ass hole, there wasn’t much more to ask for from a first kiss. And from what Pidge described, he was pretty well-versed in this kind of thing, so he would more than make up for Keith’s lack of experience.

But on the other hand, Keith didn’t want to be just one of Lance’s one time things. He liked talking to Lance. He liked laughing with Lance. He liked being with Lance. He actually felt comfortable with him like he did with only a few people. 

So what if he said no? What if he lied and said he needed to pack up and go home and that Lance should text him later? Maybe that would lead to another date. Or maybe they would just end up being friends, but that was fine with Keith if they would keep talking.

But what if Lance didn’t want to text him later. What if this was the one chance Lance was giving him, just like everyone else he dated. Did he want to waste his one chance, if that’s what this was? 

And besides, he could have been reading into it all wrong anyway and that wasn’t even what Lance was suggesting. 

Lance looked at him expectantly. 

“Sure,” he said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Lance’s smile grew and Keith mirrored it back before he turned back to pack up his bag.

He wanted more time with lance, but if he couldn’t have that, taking this one chance was second best. He would let Lance lead because Keith was willing to go wherever the night was taking him.

 

They left the library directionless, or so Keith thought. Then Lance grabbed Keith's hand and was practically skipping as he dragged him across the street.

“Lance!”

“Come on,” he said, “I got something for you.”

“Um, okay.”

It took him only a few seconds to realize where they were going.

“I didn’t peg you for being sentimental,” Keith remarked.

“Really?” Lance said, as he opened the door to let Keith go in, “We met here, in a flower shop, and you didn’t peg me as a touchy feely kind of guy?”

Keith shrugged.

“Well,” said Lance, “I hope that I can keep surprising you then.”

Lance lead them to the checkout counter, but then told Keith to wait there and disappeared around the corner.

Coran’s voice screeched in surprise somewhere in the back, “Boy, you need to warn me next time you come waltzing back here.”

“But you gave me a key,” Keith heard Lance whine.

“And you best hope I don’t take it back, I’m not paying you to give me heart attacks!”

Lance returned a minute later holding something behind his back. 

“Oh no,” Keith said, “What is that?”

“Guess,” Lance said, “It shouldn’t be too hard, given where we are.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “just give it to me.”

Lance took the gift from behind his back, smirking as he stepped over to show Keith. Keith reached over to hold it in his hands, letting them linger a little longer than necessary against Lance’s fingers.

There was a single rose in a large black pot. Keith ran his fingers along the edge of the petals delicately, feeling the soft leaf underneath his skin. 

Keith had only ever seen red roses before, but this one was black with red edges on every petal.

“How did you get it to be this color?”

“It grows that way, that's the type of rose it is, but what you should be asking is why I chose that flower.”

“Okay, tell me.”

“It’s your motorcycle!”

“Ha,” Keith said, the colors were the same hue exactly. This was his motorcycle in flower form, “You’re right.”

“I know, I’m the best,” Lance said.

Keith finally looked away from the flower back up at Lance, looking straight at his eyes for a second, just long enough for the mood to get a little more sincere.

“Thank you,” Keith said.

“You’re welcome,” Lance said lightly.

“No, seriously. This is one of the best things anyone’s ever given me.”

Lance shrugged, “Gifts are kinda my thing.”

Despite Lance brushing it off like it wasn’t that big of a deal, Keith could tell he put a lot of thought into this. Lance wasn’t living up to the ‘player who doesn’t really care’ persona Pidge had described. 

_Or maybe that’s just how he makes everyone feel_.

Keith tried to push the doubt away. He didn’t want anything ruining the moment he was having, but the feeling wouldn’t leave. There was no denying that Lance did this more often than Keith did, especially because Keith hadn’t done this at all before. But still, Keith wanted whatever this was to mean as much to Lance as it did to him. 

He was always the one who cared more, always the one who gave more. He was tired of not meaning as much to other people as they did to him. 

Keith shifted his weight and rotated the pot in his hands. Coran suddenly emerged from the back.

“Well, boys,” he said, wiping dirt off his hands, “I’m closing up for the day so I’m going to have to ask you two to leave. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lance.”

“Okay, see you, Coran!” Lance said, before turning to Keith, “Let’s go.”

Keith followed after Lance as they pushed out the door and started walking down the sidewalk.

The sky was a deep shade of blue and the clouds were turning to gradients of pinks and purples as the sun set. There weren’t many cars on the road for a friday night and there were only a few other people on the sidewalk.

Lance bumped his shoulder into Keith.

“So, how long have you had your motorcycle?” Lance asked.

“Since I was fifteen. My brother got it for me for free from a friend and we spent months finding parts to fix it up.”

Lance nodded, “You and your brother must be close, huh?”

Keith smiled sadly, “Yeah, we were.”

“Were?”

“Yeah,” he said, “He moved out to go to college a state over, he visits every once in awhile, but for the most part it’s just me and my mom now.”

“Oh,” Lance said, “well, your mom seems cool.”

Keith shrugged, “I guess. She works a lot.”

Lance just nodded and looked at his feet. He still had a bit of a limp from where he had just got his boot off.

“So how’s it feel to walk without crutches again?”

Lance huffed a laugh, “Good, kinda weird actually. But I was definitely getting tired of my sister stealing my crutches all the time.”

“Oh my god! That’s terrible,” Keith replied in shock.

But Lance waved it away, “Please, that’s very low level for us, really. One time I cut off my older sister, Adriana’s, hair just because she stole one of my star wars toys and wouldn’t give it back.”

Keith opened his eyes wide, “Wow. Shiro and I were never like that.”

“Well, just one sibling must be a lot different than four, especially when cousins aren’t constantly coming over to teach you new and exciting ways to torture each other.”

Lance then started telling Keith of the most extreme pranks his siblings had ever played on each other. Keith learned that the trip they took to the ER was far from Lance’s first trip to the hospital for injuries. He had broken his left arm twice at the hands of his younger brother once and his older sister the other time. 

It confused Keith that despite all the diabolical pranks they played on each other, there was no trace of disdain in Lance’s voice. He told every story with complete fondness.

“Wow,” Keith shook his head, “You’re house really sounds busy.”

“Yeah, it can be hard to get time alone. That’s why I spend so much time hanging around flower shops and stuff,” Lance winked.

They walked a little further, only a few blocks from Keith’s apartment now. The sky was shifting from shades of blue to black.

All at once the line of street lights flickered to life, and the black top glistened. There was an ethereal haze that seemed to float down the street as they walked. It felt like something straight out of some indie film. Almost on cue, Lance ran up to one of the light poles and swung around it. Keith laughed as he carried the rose in both hands.

He nearly tripped as he made his way back to Keith. He tugged at his wrists as he walked backward.

“Quit it, Lance. I’m gonna drop this.”

Lance let go of his wrists but nudged at his shoulder playfully.

“Come on, Keith live a little!”

“I’ll live a little when I have a little less in my hands.”

Lance snorted, “Oh, come on. A true reckless boy wouldn’t let a flower hold him back.”

“Who said I was reckless?”

“Ha!” Lance looked over at him astonished, “Really? Motorcycle boy doesn’t think he’s reckless?”

Keith shrugged. 

Was he reckless? He always thought that recklessness implied being carefree and he sure as hell wasn’t that. A truly reckless person doesn’t think about the outcome to their actions, they just do it for the thrill. A reckless person doesn’t think about how every decision they make affects the people in their life. A reckless person doesn’t worry.

Yeah, Keith wasn’t reckless at all. 

He looked over at Lance as he looked around street. His eyes gazed from the buildings to the lights, shimmering bright blue. Keith looked back down to the flower in his hands. As the sun lowered and the street lights became the main source of light, the petals looked less like colored leaves and more like soft black fabric dripping red paint.

He couldn’t remember the last time someone had given him a gift when it wasn’t Christmas or his birthday. Lance must have really put thought into this, which made Keith feel a little guilty. 

He hadn’t put much thought into any of the decisions he made when it came to Lance. He hadn’t even told Pidge about this date… or whatever it was. When he texted Lance, he didn’t spend forever trying to figure out something interesting or cool to say, he just did it. He had decided to just follow Lance into the street with no idea where they were going or what they were doing with barely any hesitation. Maybe Lance was making him a little reckless. Maybe that was okay.

“So Pidge,” Lance started, breaking the silence that had stretched between them, “I didn’t know they actually had friends, to be honest.”

Keith chuckled at that, “I can see how you would think that, honestly. If we hadn’t practically grown up together, I don’t think we ever would have talked, even though we share almost every class.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We live on the same floor. Their family was really supportive of us when we were little. They babysat Shiro and I until Shiro was old enough to watch me. We’ve been close ever since.”

Hunk and I didn’t meet until middle school. What’s it like having a life long friend?”

“Kinda like having a sibling, minus the torture,” Keith thought about it a minute, “No, actually add the torture back.”

Lance laughed and Keith couldn’t help but smiling at the sound. He had to remind himself not to get too caught up.

They crossed the next street and Keith could see his building across the road. He looked up to the top floor and tried to find Pidge’s window. His eyes drifted up into the sky and realized what a clear night it was. Stars were starting to appear like freckles on sun-kissed skin.

“That’s unusual,” he stated.

“What?” 

“The sky,” Keith said, “It’s really clear tonight. Damn, it's beautiful.”

Lance smirked and leaned into Keith, “Yeah, it is. But not as beautiful as you.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless, “Shut up.”

They walked a little further, when suddenly Keith had an idea. He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

“Whoa,” Lance said, skidding to turn and follow after Keith, “What’s going on? What are you doing?”

“I want to show you something,” he replied simply.

“Um, okay. What is it? Where are we going?”

Keith grabbed Lance’s wrist and pulled him across the street, not even bothering to look both ways since the traffic had been dead all night.

“Just follow me.”

“Alright, alright, I am.”

They got to Keith’s building and he dug around in his pocket for his keys.

Once Lance recognized the building, he raised his eyebrows and smirked, “You're taking me home? I didn't think you were a first date kinda guy but if you insist...”

Keith rolled his eyes, “shut up, dummy. We’re getting my bike and dropping this stuff off.”

“You’re taking me on a ride?” Lance asked hesitantly.

“What?” Keith challenged, leaning in to pull a competitive smirk, “You scared?”

“You wish, Mullet.”

Keith smiled wider and lead Lance up to his apartment, putting the flower on the counter and taking their backpacks to his room. He pulled a bag out of his closet and threw it across his shoulder.

When he came out again, Lance was sitting on the kitchen floor playing with Charlie who he was still calling “Red” against Keith’s request.

He dug around in the hall closet and got out the spare helmet which had been Shiro's, but mostly used by Pidge now, even though it was a little big for them.

“Here,” Keith said, “You’ll need this.”

Lance took it and placed it on his head backward.

Keith huffed and smiled fondly, “No. Uh, here.”

He stepped over and turned the helmet around on his head, then adjusted the straps, trying not to get frustrated at the stubborn material. He buckled it under Lance’s chin and gave a gently pull.

“There,” he said, “Perfect.”

When he looked away from the straps and back up, he found Lance looking at him intently. 

He caught his breath as he realized how close they were. His stomach jumped but he stayed frozen as Lance looked down at him.

This is it, he thought. Lance was going to kiss him. 

He stared back and waited. Lance swayed forward a bit and Keith gasped inaudibly and looked down at Lance’s mouth. He closed his eyes and-

Then suddenly Lance pulled back and took steps toward the door. His usual cocky swagger had evaporated and he seemed jittery as he moved away. Keith tried to blink back into the moment like he hadn't just been expecting Lance to kiss him.

“So,” Lance said, and Keith would swear he heard a crack in his voice, “Are we gonna get this show on the road?”

Keith shook off the confusion and started following Lance out the door.

 

Keith adjusted the bag on his back, which he ignored Lance’s questions about, before he pulled himself onto his bike and kicked up the stand.

“Get on,” he told Lance.

“Still not gonna tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope.”

“Or what’s in the bag?”

“No.”

“Okay, cool. So you are definitely about to murder me.”

Keith rolled his eyes and patted the seat behind him.

Lance paused before awkwardly climbing onto the seat, his long legs trying to adjust themselves behind Keith’s. 

“What do I do now?” he asked as he tried to find a place for his hands.

Keith smirked, “put your feet here. Yeah, there. Now, just hold on.”

“To what?”

Keith leaned forward and revved the engine, “Me.”

They shot off and Lance jumped forward to wrap his arms tightly around Keith. They sped out of the parking garage and into the street. Lance muffled a surprised scream into Keith’s shoulder and his grip tightened. 

“You’re insane!” Lance yelled over the wind.

“Shut up and trust me!” he yelled back, rounding another corner.

Street lights flew by on either side and the wind rushed around them. Keith accelerated way past the speed limit. They nearly grazed the ground on every turn, causing Lance to scream each time. Keith smirked as Lance held on tighter. 

As they got further from the city, the road straightened. They left behind the cityscape and passed right through the suburbs. The further they got from the lights and buildings, the clearer the sky got. The subtle curves were much calmer and eventually Lance eased his grip and pulled back enough to look around as they raced between trees.

Suddenly they broke out from the archway of leaves and into a deserted road, nothing hindering the view of the night sky. Lance hummed behind Keith as they soared through a stretch of empty land, the vast reaches of space expanding above them. 

“How far are we going?”

In response, Keith slowed. The wind eased to a slight breeze and he pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, but he didn’t stop there. He drove slowly across the plain until they reached a pile of large rocks. 

He stopped as smoothly as he could for Lance’s sake and kicked out the stand. He pulled off his helmet and threw it aside, running his hands through his now knotted hair. Soon Lance did the same before using his grip on Keith’s waist to push off the bike.

Keith led them over to the rock pile, pulling off the bag from his shoulder and placing it on the flattest one.

“Whoa,” Lance said as he realized what Keith had.

He took out the tripod along with the telescope and set the bag aside. Situating himself onto the top-most rock, he set them into place. He alternated between looking through the telescope and adjusting the focus as Lance watched him from behind.

Lance climbed up to Keith’s rock, leaning over his shoulder to watch.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, “It doesn’t exactly look cheap.”

“It was Shiro’s,” Keith replied, fiddling with the lenses still, “When he was younger, he used to want to be an astronaut. He memorized every constellation and everything there is to know about all that space stuff. It was all he ever talked about.”

He leaned back, taking his eye out of the scope, “So, my dad saved up for a long time and got this for him on his ninth birthday. We used to go to the roof of our building and look up for hours.”

He stopped and looked down at the gloves still on his hands from the ride, “That’s one of the only things I can actually remember about my dad.”

He hadn’t talked about his dad in so long. This was the first time there was someone new to tell.

“I was only five when he left,” he said, “haven’t seen him since. But Shiro stopped talking about piloting rocket ships eventually and he gave this to me. Now I take it out here every once in awhile when everything gets too much.”

When he looked back up from his hands, Lance’s eyes were shifting between his own. 

“Man,” Lance said, “that really sucks.”

“Yeah, but it’s been a long time now.”

Lance nodded, taking a second longer to contemplate Keith before reaching out and touching the tip of the telescope, “So how does this work?”

“Here,” Keith said, pulling Lance over to it, “Just put your eye there. Do you see anything?”

“No, it’s all black.”

Keith leaned over him, to move the scope in a different direction, “What about now?”

“Oh!” he shouted, “Yes! I see the moon.”

Keith smiled and took one of Lance’s hands from its grip on the scope and onto one of the knobs on the side. 

“You make it clearer with this one,” he said, then directed his hand to a second knob, “You zoom in and out with this one.”

“Okay,” Lance breathed.

Keith watched as Lance messed with them and laughed when he would yell out every so often at getting the picture into focus. He was quiet for a while once he finally got the image just right. 

Eventually, he leaned back and smiled over at Keith.

“There. Look,” he said proudly.

Keith leaned down and looked out at the perfectly focused moon. No matter how many times he looked through that same telescope at that same moon, it never failed to astonish him. This moon was breathtaking.

He passed the scope back over and they took turns finding constellations and pointing them out. They talked about everything and nothing to fill the silences in between.

It was nice, easy. Keith hoped Lance felt the same.

“I definitely see how you believe in all that alien nonsense after being out here,” Lance said at one point.

“You call it nonsense,” Keith said, lying flat on his back with hands behind his head, “I call it the truth.”

“Whatever you say, Mullet,” Lance replied.

There was another stretch of silence, then Lance said, ”So you said you work out a lot?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you play any sports or is it just for fun?”

“I guess you could say it’s just for fun,” Keith shrugged, “because I stopped playing sports after elementary school. I was never too good of a team player.”

Lance snorted, “Sounds about right.”

“Hey!” Keith said, sitting up enough to hit Lance’s shoulder. Lance laughed and then folded up the telescope and placed it on a lower rock so he could stretch out too.

He tried to lay out his legs next to Keith’s but had to bend them up. He knocked his knees together as he folded his arms behind his head, looking above him.

“Do you play any sports?” Keith asked.

“No,” Lance replied, “I used to, though. I played soccer pretty much all my life until freshman year. I started falling behind in school and had to quit so I could keep up. Same with piano, I had to quit that too.”

“Oh,” Keith said, unsure how to reply. He let the quiet settle around them. 

After a few minutes of silence Lance continued.

“Soccer was one of the first things I learned how to do. My mom always said I learned to kick a ball before I learned to run. Adriana and I played all the time when we were younger, the when Luis, my younger brother, got old enough we taught him, same with Sophia and Joseph. We still play every once in a while, but not nearly enough.

“I started playing on a team right when I started school. I’d wear my jersey every day, I slept in it, never took that thing off. I played every position too up until fifth grade, that’s when they found out I could score. Never took me off offense. They called me sharpshooter.

Keith hummed at the nickname.

“I loved it. I breathed that shit. And being on a team was great too. They were like my second family, but I only talk to a few of them now. I don’t miss the drama though, someone was always mad at someone else. And I definitely don’t miss all the crushes I’d get on everyone. Believe it or not, I didn’t always flirt so freely; I used to keep it all bottled up, especially when it was on guys. Once I started high school, I got all that sorted out though, especially with the help of my family. I don’t know what I would do without them.”

He took a deep breath as he stared up. 

“So you told your family right away?” Keith asked.

“Told them what?”

“That you’re bi or pan or whatever.”

“Oh,” Lance said, “definitely. I would never have been able to keep it a secret anyway, not with Adriana always in my business. They were really great about it, I’m really lucky. Even my grandparents are fine with it. Well, they don’t like to talk about it, but that’s okay. I haven’t had any serious relationships, so it’s fine for now.”

Keith hummed again.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“Have you told you’re family…”

“That I’m gay? No, but I don’t think they’d be surprised. Pidge knows, and I didn’t even have to tell them, they just kind of _knew_.”

“Hmm,” Lance said, “You guys really are close, huh.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

They stopped talking after that. Their elbows bumped together as they looked up. A few lightening bugs still remained from summer to flicker above them. Keith wondered how long they had been there and if his mom was back from home yet. 

He checked his phone for messages from her after a moment only to find none, but as soon as he did Lance yawned. He sat up and pulled himself down from the rock to get the telescope from where Lance set it down. He folded it back up and put it in its bag.

Lance didn’t move from his spot as Keith finished up. He wondered briefly if he had fallen asleep until he sat up.

“I guess we should get going now, huh?” he asked Keith, pulling his arms above his head in a stretch.

“I guess,” Keith answered.

Keith turned toward his bike as Lance hopped down before a hand was on his wrist pulling him back.

“Hey, thank you,” Lance said, “for showing me this place. I really enjoyed this: the stars, talking to you.”

Keith could feel his face start to heat up and hoped it was dark enough for Lance not to see the blush on his cheeks, “Me too.”

Lance dropped his grasp on his wrist and Keith waited a bit longer as Lance looked at him, wondering for the last time if he was going to move in closer. But he didn’t and Keith turned back toward his bike. Maybe it was just a friend thing after all.

“Yeah, this whole night has been really,” Lance paused dramatically, “out of this world.”

Keith snorted as he got on his seat, “wow, Lance. Way to ruin the moment.”

 

As they rode back into town, leaving the stars behind, Lance rested his head on Keith’s shoulder, eyes drifting open and closed. The wind whistled in his ears and he caught glimpses of the stars and trees and telephone poles. 

Before Lance knew it they had pulled up in his driveway. Keith waited for Lance to climb off and took the helmet and strapped it on the back of the bike. He got off too to walk him to the door but Lance put a hand to his chest.

“Don’t come in,” he said, “My sister is probably trying to get to sleep and her room is right by the door.” 

Keith nodded and took a step back, “okay.”

“Maybe some other time,” Lance smiled.

Keith slowly smiled back as he thought about there being an ‘other time’.

“Okay,” he repeated.

Lance started walking toward the door and Keith waited as he walked. Half way there Lance turned around.

“I’ll come by for my backpack tomorrow,” he said.

“And your truck at the library,” Keith smirked, “You gotta stop by and get that too.”

“Ugh, you’re right,” he groaned, “but don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

Lance huffed as he walked to the door, “Hasta la later, Keith.”

“See you,” he said back and waited for Lance to get in safely before getting back on his bike and making his way home.

The way back should have felt lonelier without Lance, but Keith smiled the whole way. He felt warm all over. 

When he got back home, his mom still hadn’t gotten back yet, but he didn’t wait up for her. He took the flower from the counter and set it by the window in his dresser. He wrapped himself in his blankets and Charlie jumped up and laid on his feet. As soon as his head hit the pillow, it was lights out. He hadn’t had such a good night’s rest for as long as he could remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I can finish this up before summer ends, but.... since I haven't started ANY of my summer homework, I seriously doubt it. But hey! who's excited for season 3 on the 4th!!?!!??!!!


	6. Google Search: "Do I make you wanna" country song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will put music (the hyperlinks) into anything and everything I do, even fanfiction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to at least the one song in the hyperlink on "play". Country isn't that bad fight me! Keith's music is just me expressing my emo vicariously.

Pidge kicked Keith under the desk, causing him to make a surprised grunt before turning around to glare at them.

“What was that for?!” Keith hissed.

“Is there a reason you didn't tell me about Saturday?” Pidge asked accusingly.

Keith looked around the study hall room to see a few people look up from books to glare at them. One person stared directly at him and pointedly turned up the volume on their headphones.

“What are you talking about?” Keith asked in a hushed voice. 

Pidge ignored his change in volume and continued.

“You're date with-”

They were cut off by the teacher that supervised the study hall, “Ms. Holt, save you're gossip for lunch, please.”

“Sorry, sir,” they said, then waved their phone at Keith and started typing.

Keith rolled his eyes but opened their messages anyway. A minute later his phone vibrated and he turned it down to silent.

Pidge: _My mom said she saw you talking to some boy in the hallway??_

Pidge: _You didn't tell me Lance came over bcuz???_

Keith huffed.

Keith: _He was just picking up his backpack_

Pidge: _BS you did NOT have his backpack for three weeks_

Keith: _he forgot it after studying for physics with me on Friday_

Keith: _I tutored him_

Pidge: _and that's it? He didn't teach you anything??_

Keith: _idk what you're suggesting_

Pidge: _don't play dumb. This was a study DATE wasn't it_

Keith: _I don't think so_

Pidge: _you don't know??_

Pidge: _what? You couldn't tell???_

Keith: _well, I mean maybe? He flirted a bit, but I think that's just how he is._

Keith: _you said it yourself. He usually just goes out with someone once, right? Hooks up or whatever. He didn't even try to kiss me_

Keith: _I thought he would a few times... but he didn't_

Keith: _I don't think it was a date, he definitely would have made a move or something_

Pidge: _but he came back again Saturday for his backpack. Did he stay?_

Keith: _only for a little bit, like an hour or so_

Pidge: _an HOUR??_

Keith: _or so! I wasn't exactly timing it_

Pidge: _ok, I'll excuse your lack of detail this once because ik how you are but from now on you MUST keep me updated_

Pidge: _or ELSE_

Keith: _im not afraid of you, Pidgeotto_

Pidge: _I'll tell Shiro_

Keith: _:| ok fine_

Pidge: _you're using emojis now? Wow, this boy has changed you_

Keith: _im done talking to you_

Keith sat his phone down, ignore his screen lighting up with two more messages. 

He tapped his pencil on the edge of his Statistics textbook. He scratched out the answers to the last three problems on his homework assignment before closing the book and picking up his phone again. 

Underneath Pidge’s two messages on the lockscreen was a familiar name. He smiled to himself as he double clicked it.

Lance: _What class are you in right now??_

Keith: _Study hall, why_

Lance: _Do you know where the track is?_

Keith: _Of course ik where the track is. Why??_

Lance: _Meet me behind the storage shed in 5_

Keith: _Are you serious? Why?_

Lance: _Bcuz I have teacher’s aide this block and I’m bored_

Lance: _plzzzzz_

Keith: _give me 10_

Lance: _;)_

Keith packed up his bag and stood up, throwing it over his shoulders. He walked up to the teachers desk. 

“Can I go to the library?” 

The gym teacher didn’t even look up at him as he wrote the one-way pass and passed it over. 

As he made his way to the door Pidge caught his eye and mouthed, “what are you doing?” 

He waved his phone in response before leaving and closing the door behind him. Messages from Pidge lit up his screen as he walked down the hall toward the stairway nearest the back door. 

Pidge: _???_

Pidge: _what do you need in the library?_

Keith: _nothing_

Pidge: _you’re skipping again? Are you okay?_

Keith: _I’m not skipping, I’m going to the track_

Pidge: _what? why?_

Keith: _I’m meeting Lance_

Pidge: _whAT!?!_

Pidge: _WHAT??_

Keith opened the door to the stairway and slowly walked up the steps. 

Keith: _calm down it’s not like that_

Pidge: _how could it not be like that?? Are you going to the SHED?? Do you know what people DO there?? Even I know_

Keith: _don’t tell Shiro_

The door opened to a hall in the back of the upper floor near the gym. He started walking toward the bathroom just outside the gym. 

Pidge: _what is happening. Who are you_

Pidge: _be safe_

Keith: _don’t act like I wasn’t the one who gave YOU the sex talk_

Pidge: _don’t remind me_

He walked through the bathroom and through the connected locker room that let out on the other side of the gym. He pulled out one earbud to hear the sneakers of the last block gym class squeaking on the basketball court along with various yells. 

Pidge: _but seriously you could get suspended for doing THINGS on school property_

Keith: _that’s not what’s happening, really, we’re just hanging out_

Pidge: _whatever you say_

He turned off his phone screen and put it in his pocket, taking out the other earbud to listen to the gym teacher yell at the students. A second later the shoe squeaking resumed and Keith took the opportunity to open the door and look out at the court. 

Hidden by the bleachers, he saw the gym teacher looking out at the court for a moment, marking something on his clipboard before turning back toward the table at the front. Keith took a chance while his back was turned and slipped out the door in the back. 

The track was empty this block save the duffle bag abandoned on the bottom bleacher and a few empty water bottles on the grass. The shed was on the other side of the track, so he had to cross the whole football field to get there. He slipped one earbud back in, keeping the other ear open to hear if anyone had caught up to him. 

He got to the shed and turned the corner to see Lance already there waiting for him. He had one foot rested against the shed wall, flicking through his phone. Keith took a few steps toward him and Lance jumped. 

“God, Mullet! You scared me! Say something next time.” 

“Next time?” Keith asked. 

Lance just smirked in response. 

“So,” he said, “what are you listening to?” 

“Huh?” 

Lance stepped over and picked up the loose earbud that hung down near his waist. He slipped it in his ear without hesitation as Keith rushed to lower the volume so it didn’t deafen Lance. 

“So [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZELJzdEBxng) is intense,” Lance said, “but not really surprising. I mean you do ride a motorcycle, I wouldn’t expect anything else.” 

“This isn’t the only type of music I listen to! You drive a truck, do you only listen to country?” 

“Oh my gosh, shoot me. Outside of the three country songs my sister got me into, that genre is dead to me.” 

“Hmm,” Keith hummed before taking the earbud plug out of his phone and handing it over. 

“What do you want me to do with this?” Lance asked, hand hesitating above Keith’s, as his fingers hovered over the wire. 

“Show me your sacred country songs.” 

Lance laughed and dropped his hand, “No way.” 

Keith’s smile dropped, “What?” 

Lance ran his hand through his hair, “Not even Hunk knows I listen to country.” 

“Who would I tell?” Keith asked, stepping forward, holding out the wire again, “Besides, you already told me your secret. You aren’t going to prove these songs are special enough to actually not hate country?” 

Lance’s mouth twitched at the corner as he took the plug from Keith’s hand and put it into his audio jack. 

“If you judge me, just remember that you listen to screamo.” 

Keith rolled his eyes, “I don’t listen to _screamo_ , that was punk rock at most.” 

“Whatever you say,” Lance said, thumb hovering over something on his screen. 

Keith took the phone out of his hands to see a playlist. 

“Wait, I was picking the best one!” 

“You said there were three? [This](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi0sCtHJjYtWdFKFKKBTFcdCw1AFN-vD5) playlist says there’s eight songs.” 

“So what?” Lance smiled, taking the phone back, “who are you going to tell?” 

He clicked [play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Xu4UbJtHg) and the soft sounds of an acoustic guitar filled his ears. 

“This sounds cheesy,” he said. 

Lance smiled over at Keith, “It is.” 

Keith looked down at their out-stretched legs laying next to each other. His black sneakers and tight jeans looked odd next to Lance’s high top Nike’s, but Keith liked it. 

The song slowly picked up pace and his fingers itched to tap along. He looked over at Lance’s hand resting on his thigh and his fingers started itching to do something else. 

When the chorus started for the second time, he couldn’t resist his toes tapping along. 

The bridge started and Keith admired a strip of sunlight that fell between the roof of the shed and the limb of the old oak and tied his leg to Lance’s. The heat seeped beneath the denim and warmed his skin. 

The chorus started again, softer than the other times. Lance knocked his shoe against Keith’s and Keith looked up. 

Lance’s smile was proud and when Keith realized the slight tilt of his own lips he knew why. He rolled his eyes and look down. 

Lance knocked his shoulder against Keith’s, “It’s good!” 

“It’s fine,” Keith retorted. 

“Come on,” Lance said, “It’s good and you know it.” 

Lance laughed, “Do I make you wanna dance real slow?” he sang. 

Keith smiled. 

“Go flyin’ down a two lane road?” 

Lance sang the rest of the song and Keith tapped along, not caring to pretend like the song wasn’t, at least, catchy. 

And Keith smiled. Not because the song was some great breakthrough, but because in the moment, with Lance by his side and a love song flying in the air around them, he felt light. 

He wasn’t thinking about what he would tell his therapist later. He wasn’t thinking about Shiro, hundreds of miles away, at college. Or his mom, at work, probably planning her next glass of five dollar wine. He wasn’t thinking at all. He was just feeling. And he was feeling great. 

He let his smile lie to Lance. 

“What do I make you wanna do, motorcycle boy?” 

Keith rolled his eyes, “Apparently you make me wanna skip study hall to sweat on the track field.” 

The next song rolled in and Keith was suspicious it was cheesier than the first. 

His eyes flicked between Lance’s as he seemed to contemplate something. Keith could feel a tension building and waited for Lance to say something to break it. A soft breeze blew his hair in his face and Lance’s attention flicked to it. He moved his hand to the strands in front of his eyes the same moment Lance did. 

His breathe caught in his throat and Keith could hear his heart thumping in his ears. Lance tucked the hair behind Keith’s ear and Keith just stared. 

They sat there frozen, Keith still holding his breath. Lance’s eyes flicked to Keith mouth and he could feel him exhale softly over his lips. Keith tried a reassuring smile, but he could feel it was shaky. Lance looked up into his eyes for a moment and Lance made a decision. 

He pulled back with a soft “sorry” that Keith could barely hear. 

Keith was left sitting there more confused than before, but the next moment Lance was smiling again and playing another song. Lance talked like Keith wasn’t looking at him completely lost. Eventually Keith caught back up and slipped into the conversation like nothing had happened. 

They went through all of Lance’s playlist and Lance talked Keith into sharing. He tried to pick the tamest songs he had, but refrained from playing his collection of acoustic emo songs. 

The sunlight inched it’s way up their legs as it fell towards the ground. Behind them, Keith could hear the sounds of various teams starting up practice. 

He pulled out his phone. 

Pidge: _You’re not going to skip therapy again this week right?_

Pidge: _I covered for you last week bcuz you were mad at me for last time, but I’m not doing it again_

Pidge: _Keith??_

Keith typed out his replied and shut his phone off. He looked over at Lance. He had closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. He knocked his shoulder against his. 

“Hmm?” Lance asked, peeking over at Keith with one eye. 

“Were you asleep?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lance said through a raspy voice. 

“I have to go...” he said reluctantly. 

“What time is it?” Lance asked. 

“4:07.” 

“What? School let out an hour ago!” 

“Yeah,” Keith said, “I didn’t think it had been that long.” 

“Me neither,” Lance said, stretching, “Didn’t you say you had to be somewhere.” 

“Yeah,” Keith said, but didn’t move, kind of hoping Lance would talk him out of it. 

“Do you want a ride?” Lance asked. 

Keith thought it over, but wasn’t willing to tell Lance where he was going yet. 

“I’m good,” he said. 

Lance took the earbud out of his ear and Keith could feel his eyes on him as he stood up. His legs felt sore from sitting so long. 

“Um,” Keith said, “I’ll see you later, yeah?” 

Lance smiled, “Yeah.” 

Keith smiled back and turned away. He was only a little late to therapy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wont be the last playlist or the last mention of music in this fic, but it will be the last country one lol.


	7. Google Search: What are liminal spaces?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Halloween months and horror movies were on my mind

Lance held his sister's fingers in his hand and lightly brushed the fingernail polish on her nails in slow precise lines.

They sat cross-legged on the floor across from each other. Face mask packages were open and scattered on the hardwood floor alongside bottles of nail polish.

“I was right about this color,” he said, “it looks much better than that gross orange.”

“Okay,” Sophia said, “I'll be sure to tell Adriana that. She gave me that for my birthday.”

Lance glared at her then went back to his work.

They started talking about Adriana and how much they missed her now that she was at college. Sophia said she was surprised by how much she actually missed her. She admitted that before Adriana left, she had been excited to have the room to herself, but now she missed the nights when they would stay up and talk about their day. 

Lance, on the other hand, hadn’t been surprised by how off the house felt without her. He said it was so weird having an empty chair at the table that he was grateful when his mom moved it to the back of the dining room. But then it felt like they were trying to erase her, like she had never been there to begin with. His mom must have felt the same since she moved it back into it’s place after only a few days.

As Lance held her hand in his, touching up the paint job, they talked about how much they missed talking to Adriana about things that were bothering them. It turned out Adriana had been the whole house’s outlet for talking about feelings. No one knew who to turn to with their problems anymore. Lance and Sophia resolved then to start talking more. 

“My doors always open, hermanita,” Lance said with a teasing smile.

“Oh no,” Sophia said, “don’t you start that too!”

They giggled and Lance had to tell her to stop moving so much, her nails were still wet. They went back to sitting in a comfortable, more trusting silence.

“Hey, Lance?” Sophia said, looking down at her finished hand, admiring the way the light reflect as she turned her nails.

“Yeah?”

“What happened with that boy… Keith? I heard you talking with him late at night a few weeks ago but you haven't talked about him since. He's the one from the ER right?”

“Yeah, he is,” Lance said, painting on the last coat of her pinky, “were becoming really close friends actually.”

“Just friends?”

Lance swallowed. That very same question had been playing on repeat in his mind.

Lance knew what he wanted and he was pretty sure he knew what Keith wanted too. It was getting old hyping himself up to make a move but then falling short. 

The truth was, he liked him. A lot. 

At first he wasn’t sure about Keith. He was so reserved, it was hard to read what was really on his mind. But after he got to know him, he learned the subtle signs that gave him away. Like the way his lips would quirk slightly, barely even noticeable, when Lance said something interesting. Or how he shifted his weight or rubbed his fingers together when he didn’t know what to say. He loved knowing him, it felt like knowing a secret no one else could understand.

But even more amazing was when Lance caught him opening up. He loved the way he got confused at Lance’s culture references, but never missed a beat to laugh at a stupid joke or pun. He loved the way that his smile was crooked like a smirk, like Keith was still trying to stop it from showing, but couldn’t. 

Lance broke down his barriers just enough to see through the cracks and then fell behind them. 

Knowing Keith was like watching a plant grow. At first it was simple, but then he looked at him one day and realized the sprout became a blossom with so many leaves and colors. 

That moment behind the shed, listening to stupid cheesy love songs, had been that realization. He looked over and saw something beautiful he hadn’t fully realized was there before. In the moment, he was caught up. His movements were that of the moment, done purely on feeling. It was an instinct to move the hair from Keith’s face and lean. 

But then he looked into Keith’s eyes, his encouraging eyes, that told Lance it was okay to kiss him. Lance realised what Keith was really seeing. 

Keith knew Lance’s reputation. Everyone did. Lance was a player. Lance never went out with the same person twice. Lance was an experience. When Keith smiled and leaned, he was agreeing to nothing more than what Lance’s reputation promised. 

But Lance didn’t want that. Not with Keith. He wanted to keep him around longer than a few weeks.

“Yeah,” he said, “Just friends.”

Sophia hummed and took her hand back.

“Do you want me to fix yours? I messed them up a bit...” she said.

“No,” Lance said, looking at the small smudges and polish on the skin around his nails, “I like it like this.”

Sophia just shrugged, “whatever you say.”

 

There are certain places where reality feels altered: parking lots late at night, rest stops on the side of foreign highways, nearly empty airports. These are liminal spaces. They are used as transitions and aren’t meant to be seen as anything more than a space to move through. So when considered as their own entity, their existence seems odd. 

Long amounts of time in these areas destroys the context of the “before” and “after” destination. It is wrong to spend so much time in a place meant as a hallway. It is out of context. It is a school during the summer, an empty museum, a room full of sleeping people when you’re awake. It is purgatory. 

Logic slips behind a curtain, overshadowed by a drapery of emotion. And the feeling is addicting. It is a drug. It is keeping a secret. It is entering a door with a keep out sign. It almost isn’t even real. It feels wrong, but at the same time, that feeling begs to be kept as long as possible. 

Liminal spaces are strange and intoxicating. Watching shitty horror movies at three a.m. on hardwood floor is a liminal space. 

Keith thought about this as he sat next to Lance on his bedroom floor, wrapped in layers of blankets, watching the glow of his laptop while the rest of the world slept. Lance’s head rested on Keith’s shoulder. A window still cast a haze of moonlight over the room, just enough for Keith to see the outlines of their socked feet next to each other.

The idea of a movie marathon had started with Lance discovering Keith’s weird obsession with classic horror films.

Once Keith started talking about it, he couldn't get himself to stop. Pidge hated horror movies. Every time they watched old ones together, Pidge would point out all the flaws in the special effects then tune out for the second half to do something on their laptop. He never really had someone to listen to him talk about it. The more he talked the more surprised he was when Lance hadn't even heard of half the movies Keith thought were classics.

Over the course of the next week Keith started sending Lance movie titles he thought were necessary to at least know something about. That's when Lance suggested they watch them together. 

Keith had been reluctant, but invited Lance over to marathon a few Saturday after trimming his list down to a reasonable eight movies.

“You know we're only gonna get through two, maybe three of these,” Lance pointed out.

“I know,” Keith said, pulling a big popcorn bowl out of the cabinet, “but it's good to have some options.”

Lance hummed and rubbed Charlie's back who had jumped onto the counter and rubbed against Lance until he paid her attention.

Keith lead Lance back to his room, spotless as always. 

“You know what we should do to make the most authentic marathon experience?” Lance asked with an excited grin.

“What?”

“We should make a blanket fort. You know, like the ones you used to make as a kid.”

Keith looked around his room, he only had one desk chair and his bed, not much to make a fort with.

“I don't know how that would work,” he said.

“Come on,” Lance pouted, “It'll be fun! We can turn off all the lights so it's really scary! A true horror movie experience.”

Keith thought about it.

“Please?” Lance asked, nudging Keith playfully with a face so hopeful it was too bright to look at. The contact immediately made him blush and he had to turn away so Lance wouldn't see. 

“Okay, fine,” he said.

“Yes!”

“I'll go get some sheets.”

They spent way more time than anticipated setting up the fort. Lance actually had really great ideas for how to make it higher and stay up using chip clips and rubber bands. They collected as many pillows and cushions as they could to line the floor. Then they found small lights to put in each corner, despite Lance's idea to have it pitch black. The sun shining through the window ruined that idea anyway.

They finally started their marathon two and a half hours late from their plan, but neither really cared. They spent a lot of the time having to pause the movie so Lance could ask questions or Keith could explain some fact about the story or filming he thought was cool.

Then the next movie passed and the next one until the sky was casting dim red light into the room as the sun set. Soon the clouds turned to the wispy deep blue of early night and Lance started to shift around and collect his phone and discarded jacket.

They had just finished watching the original Frankenstein which Lance said was his favourite so far. The credits started rolling and Lance stretched.

“I guess I should go,” he said reluctantly as he stood. His keys jingled in his pocket.

“Wait,” Keith said, astonished that the word had even left his mouth, “don't leave... Not yet.”

Lance looked back at him from where he was partly out of the fort. 

“Curfew is midnight so I won't be able to drive home if I wait much longer.”

“Then don't go home,” Keith said.

Lance looked between his eyes and Keith wondered how long he held his breath waiting for a response.

Lance relaxed and smiled as he made his way back to Keith, “I'll text my mom.”

He leaned back next to Keith and pulled his legs in as he turned on his phone. They leaned back against Keith’s bed and had scooted closer over the course of the evening. Keith watched as he typed and bit his lip.

“Hey,” he said, “um, if you don’t want to stay you don’t have to...”

Lance had sent the message and turned off his phone, and looked back up. 

“Are you kidding? This is a thousand times better than whatever I’d be doing at home.”

“Okay… I guess I just didn’t want you to get bored.”

Lance leaned in to nudge his shoulder, “nah, man. I like hanging out with you.”

Keith smiled and looked back down, tracing the buttons on his laptop, “I like being with you too.”

“Then we should probably do this more,” Lance said when Keith met his eyes again, “I have plenty of movies from this century I bet you haven’t seen. Are you an action movie fan? You seem like you probably should be.”

“You need to stop judging me by my motorcycle.”

“You need to stop acting like a guy who doesn’t have one.”

Keith smiled before replacing Frankenstein with a much newer (but still old) movie.

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Sure it does,” Lance said, “so what’s next?”

“This one is totally different,” he said, “have you seen Psycho?”

“After watching all the movies you like, I think I'm looking at one right now,” Lance smiled.

Keith shoved his shoulder.

And that's how they ended up huddled together under a sea of blankets watching old movies until dawn. They didn’t fall asleep until somewhere near five in the morning and slept until noon. Keith poured them each a bowl of cereal and Lance rolled his eyes.

“Next time, we’ll do this at my house and my mom and I can show you how to make real breakfast,” Lance said.

Keith smiled. There was turning out to be way more “next time”s than he had expected. When all this started he had been so sure it would be temporary. He thought Lance would be either a fling or a brief thought of friendship. 

Every friend he had except for Pidge only stuck around for a few weeks then drifted off to hang around other people. Keith watched as person after person walked out of his life like he meant nothing. He felt like he was holding his breath, waiting in a limbo, wondering how long it would take Lance to leave. 

By now he was sure Lance didn’t feel exactly the way he did. The flirting that had been so heavy in the beginning was now lighter than air. Lance no longer looked at him the way he had. The playful smirks and pick up lines had turned into softer smiles and teases. Light touches on his hand and face here now on hands and shoulders.

He figured Lance had realized Keith wasn’t really worth it. What was confusing though, was how he still stuck around. It made him feel bubbly when he thought about more time with Lance, though what anyone could see in Keith even as a friend, he would never understand. 

Keith knew he didn’t have much to offer. He wasn’t enough for Lance and he never would be. It made him felt guilty for wanting more. He told himself to stop hoping. He would force himself to be fine with just friends if Lance was willing to even give him that. 

Still, he knew lance would start dating again and Keith knew it would hurt. It was hard to think about. He kept telling himself to cross that bridge when he was pushed onto it. He let himself forgot about it when they were together. But at night, when he was alone, he knew he was hanging off the edge, waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is getting waaay longer than expected

**Author's Note:**

> what is characterization, haha. I'm trying I swear


End file.
